Columbus as supremacist? Some with Italian roots reject him [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Steve Leblanc, Associated Press
Updated 6:56 am CDT, Wednesday, June 17, 2020



Photo: Steven Senne, AP
A passer-by walks near a damaged Christopher Columbus statue, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, in a waterfront park near the city's traditionally Italian North End neighborhood, in Boston. The statue was found beheaded Wednesday morning, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said.


BOSTON (AP) — Generations of Italian Americans embraced Christopher Columbus with little thought to the dark side of his legacy. But as the nation grapples with racial injustice, that ship may have sailed.

Now, some Italian Americans in Massachusetts are publicly casting the explorer as a symbol of white supremacy who touched off centuries of European oppression and the decimation of indigenous peoples.

It’s time, they say, to permanently ditch a statue of Columbus near Boston's historic North End neighborhood which was recently vandalized and temporarily removed from its pedestal by the city.

“There has always been the feeling that Italian Americans all feel the same way about Columbus,” said Heather Leavell, 46, of Bedford, one of the founders of the group Italian Americans for Indigenous Peoples' Day.

More:
https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Columbus-as-supremacist-Some-with-Italian-roots-15345916.php