Columbus should not rep Italians
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Brooklyn: As an Italian-American, I disagree with Gov. Cuomo. The idea that the Italian-American contribution in the United States can be exemplified by a person who enslaved and murdered indigenous people in this hemisphere, (he never made it to North America, let alone New York,) strikes me as painful, sad and kind of pathetic. Italian history, and Italian-American culture, is full of some of the world’s best artists: sculptors, painters, poets, actors, musicians, singers. Why not put up a statue honoring Leonardo da Vinci? Or Michelangelo? Or Dante or Botticelli? Robert De Niro, Lady Gaga, Sophia Loren, Danny DeVito, Frank Zappa — the list is almost endless. So, why we are we choosing to celebrate a genocidal murderer?
If we want to celebrate Italian history and culture, let’s take down the Columbus statue and either put it in a museum or just dump the damn thing in the river. Then build a monument to Italian genius and artistry, to the beauty Italian people have created, beauty which connects and heals, entertains and makes people think. Beauty which doesn’t kill, destroy or divide.
Italian people are so much more than Columbus. Please let’s stop letting the worst of us represent us. Donna Nicolino
Goodbye, Columbus
Manhattan: The time has come for the truth to be known about past “leaders,” which textbooks have portrayed as faultless heroes. Christopher Columbus discovered the “New World” by accident, thinking he was in India. The Native-Americans welcomed him and, in return, Columbus and his men raped, tortured and enslaved them. They also brought diseases that killed millions. There are plenty of Italian Renaissance masters who enriched civilization, and inspired the world. Instead of Columbus, why not have statues of da Vinci and Michelangelo?
Manny Martin
Killer contribution
Delray Beach, Fla.: In response to Voicer Frederick R. Bedell Jr.’s praise of Christopher Columbus’s contribution to the New World, (i.e., expanding Christianity to indigenous people,) let’s remember that his efforts were promulgated at the end of a sword or a musket. As with later American efforts at expanding democracy, the intended beneficiaries, always people of color, were/are lucky to survive the largesse of their charitable benefactors. Bill Bredin
Rebel shhhh!
Oak Ridge, N.J.: Thank you, Voicer John Amato, for your
suggestion that Confederate flags be made illegal to display anywhere, on public or private property. If our elected officials really cared about Black Lives Matter and black people, they would make this law by next week, (yo guys, executive order). I can’t help but feel that black people see the Confederate flag the same way that Jews see swastikas: as symbols of oppression, death, torture and enslavement. Flying that flag is a hate crime, and it certainly halts the forward movement towards equality. Would banning it be taking away the rights of some people? Possibly. But when someone’s rights hold back the good of one’s country, it is no longer their right. It’s “We the people,” not “We the people and one idiot flying a rebel flag because it’s his or her right.” I implore our governors (because this dumb president won’t make such a move) to sign executive orders, effective immediately. We just need one guy or girl to come forward and do this and more will follow.
Jim Heimbuch
Send ‘em south
Lindenhurst, L.I.: History, good or bad, should not be eradicated or whitewashed (no pun intended). So, instead of tearing down all these monuments to ignorance and racist Confederate “heroes,” why not build a museum deep in the heart of Dixie and house them all in one contextualized location, and call it “The Confederate Glory Hall”? Scott Daly
Drawing the line
Staten Island: Both my parents were Holocaust survivors. Considering that Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh were avowed Nazis and anti-Semites, and even supported the Nazi war effort, should their names be removed from wherever they appear? As much as I might be “triggered” when I see the Ford logo, my answer is no.
Harold Frydman
No past, no future
South Amboy, N.J.: Winston Churchill said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” Your June 13 editorial “Gone with the context” is an amazing piece of hypocrisy. Striving to pick and choose which historical figures should be censored and erased, you end up with this kind of convoluted reasoning: Civil War generals and any symbols of the Confederacy must be eliminated, but Christopher Columbus and “Gone with the Wind” are okay (for now.) Here’s an idea: How about we don’t grovel to the ignorance of the mob? How about we reject censorship and the rewriting of history? And how about we don’t allow our elitist progressive betters at the Daily News to decide where the lines should be drawn? Joseph Hansell
A damn shame
Bronx: “Song of the South” is one of Walt Disney’s best movies, but it is never aired, because it is considered racist. Now, HBO is not going to air “Gone with the Wind,” for the same reason. Well, that’s their loss. I have a DVD of GTTW.
Mary Caggiano
Urgent care
Staten Island: As a former transit worker who stood alongside transit union activist Tim Schermerhorn at many protests, my heart goes out to Tim and his family. I tried to see if I could donate a kidney, but found out that I am the wrong blood type. Tim is a good man who always had transit workers in his heart. A frequent target of NYCTA for his activism, he spent his career fighting for workers’ rights. He was the man you wanted in your corner at any type of hearing you were facing against Transit. My prayers are with you,
/ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Tim. I hope someone comes forward with a kidney for you soon. Michael Scanlan
Notably absent
Jamaica: What is the Board of Elections doing? I requested an absentee ballot in May and again in the beginning of June. Mind you, the ballots must be postmarked by June 23. As I write this, it is June 16, and my daughter, my mother and myself still have not received our ballots. Is it still at the post office because Trump put a corrupt person in charge of the Postal Service? Did the Board of Elections just not mail them? Time is running out.
Charlene Black
Someone’s daughter
Far Rockaway: To Voicer Dianne Clemente: I saw a young white woman violently shoved to the ground by a police officer and I, as a black parent, was absolutely horrified. Not because she was white, but because she is someone’s child, a daughter, a human being. People like you with such an ugly opinion prove just what is wrong with this country now. My prayers for a speedy recovery of that young precious child.
Ora Reed