OMG watching the statue come down in Richmond

[Ex Lurker]

It hit a protestor. Didn't look good

[Backseat Driver]

1. Crap!

Awaiting link and details!

[Dream Girl]

2. I was afraid of that. They were standing in front of it!

[nocoincidences]

3. That's in Portsmouth, not Richmond.

Portsmouth is near my town, Virginia Beach, in the area called Hampton Roads or Tidewater.

The person the statue fell on was seriously injured, a guy in his 30's, but that's all I have read. the 11 PM news should have more details.

[CatWoman]

4. i'm a portsmouth native

as we call it, "p town"

where are you guys seeing this?

[NutmegYankee]

16. I grew up in the 757.

Been living up north so long I've lost all of my accent except using Y'all.

[nocoincidences]

18. You two grew up here,

and I am ending my life here. I assume. I am NOT dead yet, but I own my house here and don't plan to move again, so...

I grew up in Southern Illinois but spent the majority of my adult life in Texas.

I have ONLY been in Virginia for 20 years, which tells you I am no spring chicken.

[nocoincidences]

5. Local coverage is here:

https://www.13newsnow.com/

[CatWoman]

6. ty homie

[nocoincidences]

7. Most welcome!

I am owned by 3 cats, btw.

[CatWoman]

8. ....

[haele]

9. Most likely it was one of those cheap 1920's Jim Crow warnings.

Or hopefully it was. Those are thin bronze and more likely to break themselves than break a bone, unless you get hit with the torso.

Most "Civil War memorials" went up after WWI as push-back against early Civil Rights movements and to keep Black veterans in place.
What few people know - or remember- is that when the French Army begged for supporting troops towards the end of 1916, the US Army sent the segregated Black quartermaster units that were not going to be allowed to fight with "Real American Men". The French respected and appreciated the US Black troops, treating them with the same regard as any their contemporaries in the French Army, not like second class demi-citizens. Returning Black vets were a threat to the comfortable White Status Quo....hence, the hundreds of "Confederate Legacy" statues funded by DoC raffles, most based off the same three figures, most of whom looked nothing like the Confederate soldier or General they were supposed to represent.

Haele

[applegrove]

10. The Daughters of the Confederacy, or granddaughters, put a plaque up

in Montreal around then. Insidious.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. It was a statue of Columbus

that was toppled.

As an american of Italian decent, Columbus is not about the person, but about celebrating Italian heritage. I'm not sure how many people know this, but Italians were also lynched in the south owing to having darker skin. During WWII, Italians were subjected to unannounced immigration raids on the premiss that they were subversives. Italian-Americans were also sent to internment camps although not to the extent of Japanese-Americans.

More: https://www.history.com/news/italian-american-internment-persecution-wwii

[Ex Lurker]

12. That sounds suspiciously like All Lives Matter

Columbus doesn't get a pass just because he's Italian.

[DeminPennswoods]

23. Please...

I merely pointed out that Italians, whether new immigrants or citizens by birth, also suffered from discrimination and other acts related to that as have many immigrant groups in the 240+ years of American history.

[haele]

13. Ah, my error.

Yes, I am aware of the historical importance of Columbus to the Italian American community (especially during WWII; my folks grew up in a multi-cultural/immigrant area of LA, and witnessed a lot of 40's and 50's WASP prejudice), but I'm also aware of history and what Columbus did to the Native peoples he and his men came in contact with.

Haele

[TheBlackAdder]

20. Columbus was pretty insignificant, until foisted up on a pilar to drive Italian-American pride.

.

I live in NJ, with is 1/6th Italian heritage, and American History college courses showed the Italian-American subjugation up to and throughout the 1930s and 40s, many seem to forget this American history. The Irish-Americans were also treated horribly up to WWII and Asian-Americans a lot worse and throughout most of the 20th Century.

Italian-Americans didn't even start to become accepted as White until post-WWII and were often slurred as Blacks turned inside out. Polish-Americans were not being considered White until the 60s and Greeks and Israelis did not being to be accepted as White until the late 60s and 70s.

Yet, many of these cultural groups harbor a good degree of bias and animosity towards AAs and Latin-Americans, when they suffered through similar treatment in recent generations.

.

[DeminPennswoods]

26. That is the way I understand it

I grew up knowing Columbus did not discover North America, Vespucci did.

I personally belive if you or your family has suffered inequities, you should have empathy and sympathy for others experiencing the same, but you are right that many Italian-Americans are conservative and support current conservative thought.

[obamanut2012]

22. He has literally zero importance to Italoan-Americans

It is so bizarre you keep using that to excuse keeping up these statues.

I AM Italian-American. My grandfather came here from Italy. No one I know lauds that dude.

[DeminPennswoods]

24. Both my great grandparents and

grandfather were born in Italy. My Italian grandmother was born here and actually lost her birthright citizenship because she married an immigrant. I grew up around the family joke that Italians were not quite "white people". I know Italian families who changed their surname to something more English sounding to hide their heritage. Like it or not, Columbus and Columbus Day represent the culmination of the effort to gain acceptance into American society.

[TeamPooka]

19. Columbus commited genocide. Some folks are still upset about that.

understandably.
Italians should turn to other better heroes, Da Vinci perhaps.

[obamanut2012]

21. Italian-Americans were not sent to camps, stop this misinformation

Neither were German-Americans.

KNOWN HIGH-LEVEL FASCISTS who were actively working against the US were imprisoned, an some were of Italian and German heritage. Not the same thing, Skippy.

I also love how you are equating Italian heritage with celebrating a genocidal serial rapist. I'm of Italian heritage, and want everyone of his statues melted down, and Columbus Day changed to First Nations Day.

The wingnut didn't even land on American shores anyway.

[DeminPennswoods]

25. They were indeed

Not to the extent of Japanese-Americans, but there were internment camps in Montana housing Italian-Americans.

I'm not sure why First Nations, Native Americans can't have their own holiday.

[NutmegYankee]

14. I've seen that monument.

Just down the street from a nice German food restaurant.

[ansible]

15. Looks like it hit his head

Link to tweet