Cuomo Says New York City's Columbus Statue Should Stay

[alp227]

Source: NPR

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that he did not believe New York City's prominent statue of Christopher Columbus should be removed and pointed out its importance in the Italian American community.

Cuomo was asked on Thursday at a press conference whether it was time for the statue, which stands above the city's Columbus Circle subway stop, to go.

"I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support," said Cuomo, who is of Italian descent. "But the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian American contribution to New York. For that reason, I support it."

Discussions about the removal of statues dedicated to the Italian explorer once credited with discovering the Americas have proliferated across the country at the same time that some other controversial monuments — Confederate figures — have been removed. A statue of Columbus was pulled down and tossed into a lake in Richmond, Va., and one was beheaded in Boston. Activists also toppled one of the statues in Minneapolis, according to Minnesota Public Radio. One was defaced in Miami, member station WLRN reports.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/11/875165592/cuomo-says-new-yorks-columbus-statue-should-stay

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Furio Giunta had a better (albeit fictional) analysis of Columbus in The Sopranos: Columbus was from Genoa, so Southern Italy couldn't stand the Northern elites.

[AlexSFCA]

1. honestly, it's getting absurd with this obsession over statues

i can understand removing confederate statues and flags of course but it was ‘normal’ to own slaves in those times, what are we gonna with the founding fathers...
Why not stay focused on police and modern day racism.

[ansible]

3. Good luck with that, we're in the midst of a cultural revolution right now

[Cobalt Violet]

14. I knew we would see the genocide defenders come out in droves to support Columbus.

They are always in the way of change and they always use the same excuses.

[Cobalt Violet]

9. It's always "absurd" when it comes to acknowledging America's GENOCIDAL roots vs. Indigenous people.

I knew I would find a post like this here. BREAKING FUCKING NEWS: IT IS MODERN DAY RACISM.

Founding fathers where genocidal maniacs. We have no obligation to worship them. They were NOT great men.

[onetexan]

12. agree. I also agree with Gov Cuomo Columbus' statue should stay. Take what we can -

combat police brutality & today's racism. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water and dilute our message. Focus on the bigger issues. Columbus is a historical figure not tied to those 2 things and is a source of pride for Italian Americans. His statue should stay.

[Cobalt Violet]

13. Fuck that! You're either for Genocide and Racism or against it!

Glad to know where you stand though. Tell me when would be the correct time to address the USA's genocidal juggernaut?

[onetexan]

26. you're entitled to your OPINION but your reaction is way overboard. Don't bother responding as i'll

just ignore you.

[Cobalt Violet]

37. I'll respond when I want, not when I'm told I can. You aren't the only DUer.

I really wish some people would get out of way.

[onetexan]

43. SHEEESHHHH

[Miguelito Loveless]

21. Sure his statue should stay,

in a museum, not on government property, thus implying government sanction.

[amuse bouche]

16. Tell me one fact about Columbus worth celebrating

[Steelrolled]

28. It is because tearing down statues is easy

And solving the problems of police and racism is difficult. And even though tearing down statues will have almost no effect, it makes people feel like they are doing something to solve the problem.

[AlexSFCA]

46. it makes mockery of anti police brutality movement

[patricia92243]

2. Confederate (war) statues vs. Columbus seems a little much.

[Cobalt Violet]

10. oh really?? Please explain.

What is "a little much" about it?

[onetexan]

27. +1 K&R

[appalachiablue]

4. Offensive Western statues like this one in California

Last edited Fri Jun 12, 2020, 11:02 AM - Edit history (2)

of a Native American man in fear and submission are also controversial.



- 'Early days,' San Francisco. (*SCULPTURE NOW REMOVED).

- 'Boom California, Last Stands'
https://boomcalifornia.com/2018/10/25/last-stands/

[SunSeeker]

6. Wow. Never seen that. Yuck.

[appalachiablue]

30. The foul sculpture 'Early Days' was fortunately taken down

according to this good 'Boom California' article (2018) which goes into a lot about recent campaigns to remove many racist & offensive memorials, statues & sculptures which exist in CA and the West..

.."Despite legal efforts by a group opposed to “destroying a part of history,” as dawn broke on 14 September, city workers hauled away the 2,000-pound “Early Days” statue from San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza.
Ohlone tribal leaders witnessed this victory. Similarly, Stanford University will soon expunge Junipero Serra’s name from its buildings, and Prospector Pete will no longer “strike the gold of education” at Long Beach State University...https://boomcalifornia.com/2018/10/25/last-stands/

[paleotn]

20. Save their souls.....then kill them...

The Spanish plan. Americans skipped the first part.

[appalachiablue]

31. Indeed; the sculpture is down now, SEE post #30

[Miguelito Loveless]

22. Wow, that evil cleric is trying to cast Conversion

I hope the poor man made his saving throw. Of course, if he did, they'll just kill him.

[appalachiablue]

32. Now removed, see Post #30

[Miguelito Loveless]

45. Yay!!

A natural 20 on his save.

[SunSeeker]

5. We can certainly stand a little rethinking of who we glorify with statues.

Columbus wss a mercenary for Spain, he was not representing Italy. He wasn't even looking for America. He was looking for India and fucked up.

[Sherman A1]

17. Agreed

We really need to spend some time reconsidering who we hold up as heroes, who we immortalize in statues and who we name places after. This discussion should have already long ago taken place, no is better than not at all.

[ExciteBike66]

7. Columbus "discovered" a land that had been settled for millennia...

I don't understand why Italian-Americans are so gung-ho over this guy. Just because Europeans were ignorant of an ENTIRE CONTINENT doesn't make Columbus a hero. Throw in the enslavement of a native American thing and he just gets worse and worse.

[ansible]

8. The Sopranos explained it well

[Cobalt Violet]

11. They are ignorant racists is why they are so gung-ho.

Would we tolerate Hitler statues if people of German or Austrian (whatever the fuck he was) descent wanted them? I think not.

[amuse bouche]

15. We were fed a lot of garbage as kids in school. Columbus was pretty awful

He never even set foot on our shores. DNA suggests he was a Portuguese Nobleman and he committed genocide.

So let's get some history straight if we can

Sorry Gov..you are wrong on this

[packman]

18. Wonder why that statue of Andrew Jackson is still there in New Orleans

Author of the Trail of Tears

[Miguelito Loveless]

23. His 1814 battle against Britain

will be the answer given.

[Polybius]

34. He a was a President, a war hero, and almost single-handedly founded the Democratic Party

He is even available has an avatar here on DU. I know he has high faults, but he has positives as well. He's not Columbus.

[former9thward]

47. It doesn't matter.

He is not woke and in a Cultural Revolution all things not perceived loyal and perfect must fall. The Chinese went through one in the mid 60s and it nearly destroyed their country for a generation.

[paleotn]

19. There's a Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei

for every Columbus and Machiavelli. Why not celebrate them? I don't get the whole Columbus deal. Basque and English fishermen were fishing the Grand Banks and Georges Bank 100 years before Columbus set sail. They knew there was land out there, but were more interested in cod than Asia. Of course they could have checked with the Norwegians. Their people had been here centuries before even the Basques, as written down in their sagas.

[Javaman]

35. I'm part Sicilian and I completely agree.nt

[stillcool]

44. +1

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

49. Maybe we need a statue of St Brendan, ...

... the Irishman who voyaged to America, long before Vikings or Columbus.

It's a story I choose to believe, at least on every March 17.

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2013/05/16/did-st-brendan-reach-north-america-500-years-before-the-vikings/

Sláinte

[tenderfoot]

24. Thank you for posting that scene from the Sopranos...

Furio's telling the truth.

[warrior1]

25. Fine, then the people will take it down themselves.

[former9thward]

48. No, they won't.

But they will write about it on the internet.

[RussBLib]

29. I think "discovering" America is of greater value than leading an army of secession

And yes, I know, natives were living here for centuries. Perhaps we should re-phrase it to: Columbus was the first European to set foot in the Americas. It's when Europe discovered north America.

Even though Chris Columbus was a filthy murderer, rapist, thief, and looter, the discovery was pretty significant.

[marie999]

33. The Norse beat him here by about 500 years.

And they were not looking for India.

[RussBLib]

36. so I hear

but the history on that is cloudy and unclear.

It's highly likely that happened, but they didn't leave much of an impact vis a vis Columbus.

[DBoon]

42. They also didn't try to enslave the natives

They just wanted to set up farms and graze cattle. A perfectly noble pursuit in my opinion.

[Cobalt Violet]

38. Why not honor a pimple?

They're white and disgusting too.

[paleotn]

39. Nope.

Leif Erikson and company. Didn't stay long though. Tough neighborhood. The Basques knew about America long before Columbus, but kept it a trade secret in case others might find their cod honey hole (fishing term for a really good spot you don't tell anyone about...not even your friends). It's no stretch to think chasing fish and whales they might have made landfall on Sable, Newfoundland or maybe the continent itself at Nova Scotia. English fishermen weren't too far behind them. Columbus, being an experienced and accomplished mariner knew the stories and rumors. He was just following in the someone else's footsteps, a bit further south.

[RussBLib]

40. that's the name my brain could not pull up

I hear there is a statue honoring Leif, son of Eric, in Boston.

[DBoon]

41. Surely there must be a better representative of Italian heritage?

Galileo? Da Vinci? Michelangelo? Giuseppe Garibaldi? Gaultiero Marchesi?