Goodbye, Columbus
Chicago statues removed
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the city’s two Christopher Columbus statues taken down under the cover of darkness early Friday after violent clashes erupted over them.
Lightfoot later said in a series of tweets that the statues of the Italian explorer were “temporarily removed” by the city “until further notice.” One of the monuments had stood in the Windy City’s Grant Park, while the other was in Arrigo Park in its Little Italy neighborhood.
“We took this step in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, and to efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner,” the Democratic mayor tweeted.
“This step is an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols.”
The mayor added, “We will soon be announcing a formal process to assess the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicago’s communities, and develop a framework for a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity.”
Last month, Lightfoot said she didn’t believe the Columbus statue at Grant Park should be removed.
“Look, I know that the issue of Columbus, Columbus Day is an issue of great discussion, but I think that the way in which we educate our young people in particular about the history is to educate them about the full history,” she said at the time.
Demonstrators nationwide have clamored for the removal of statues of Columbus, calling the explorer a symbol of hate and oppression — while others view him as an important part of Italian-American heritage.
Last week, 49 cops and four demonstrators were hurt when clashes broke out during a protest calling for the Grant Park statue’s removal. More than a dozen individuals were arrested.
On Thursday night, hundreds of protesters rallied outside Lightfoot’s home and demanded that the local police be defunded. The demonstration came after Lightfoot reportedly did an about-face and agreed to Trump’s plan to send 200 federal agents to Chicago.