Mr. Mayor, violence in Columbus not different
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther unveiled a report last week that found nearly half of the city’s homicides in a ninemonth stretch of 2020 involved a very small number of very violent individuals.
This reveal, which the city chose to do six months after the study had been completed, included updates on what Ginther and other officials called their evolving strategy to curb the ongoing bloodshed.
“The violence we’re seeing today is different,” Ginther said.
That’s just not true.
For proof, one needs only to read the report.
The findings were made by a team
graves over that terrible decision,” said Bova, who is Sicilian and a self-described baby boomer from Grandview. “Christopher Columbus and that statue were part of our Italian heritage and it made me heart sick that they tore it down.”
Verrilli, a 79-year-old Italian-american, was even more upset than her friend.
“That represents our culture and history and they disrespected it,” said Verrilli, also of Grandview. “This has been very hurtful to Italian-americans. Our culture should be protected and not torn down over political decisions.”
The festival, established in 1980, is held in Italian Village outside St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, and was expected to draw about 35,000 people over the weekend. And the majority of those roaming its grounds on Saturday were more interested in sampling Italian sausage, Stromboli, and fresh pasta or checking on the Ohio State football score than politics.
But many were eager to share their opinion on the Christopher Columbus controversy.
The statue gifted to the city of Columbus by Genoa, its Italian sister city, was removed in July 2020 after another Christopher Columbus statue was removed a short time earlier by Columbus State Community College.
Columbus, the Italian explorer, is often celebrated as the first person to discover the Western Hemisphere, but others made the voyage before him, and Native American tribes had inhabited North and South America for centuries.
The decision to remove the statues last year came after pressure from protesters and many residents who point to Columbus' genocide and exploitation of Native people.
“I believe he is being very mispresented now,” said Nico Toliano, 25, of New York City, who was running a booth for Thewoodenspoonmedia company and recently produced a podcast defending Columbus' legacy. “He wasn't a perfect man, but he was the man who meshed the old world with the new world and it's one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. That should be respected, not destroyed.”
Columbus Day was first designated a federal holiday in 1937, in part as a way of recognizing Italian-american heritage. In 1971, it was moved from Oct. 12 to the second Monday in October. However, Columbus Day is not celebrated widely across the U.S.
At least 14 states and dozens of cities across the U.S. celebrate an Indigenous People's Day or Native American Day on the second Monday in October.
In South Dakota, for example, Monday will be celebrated as Native American Day as it has been since 1990. Berkley, California, is believed to have become the first city to rename the holiday as Indigenous People's Day in 1992.
President Biden on Friday became the first president to commemorate
Monday as Indigenous Peoples' Day. In his proclamation, Biden wrote: “Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures — safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations."
But Biden also issued a proclamation for Columbus Day, citing the explorer's numerous accomplishments while at the same time also noting the harmful impact he had on Native Americans.
A few Italian-american's who attended the Columbus festival on Saturday said they agree with the decisions to remove the statues after new information has surfaced about Columbus' history.
“I feel like it was justified to be taken down and it doesn't effect or diminish my heritage at all,” said Kevin Ruperti, 48, of Reynoldsburg. “You can't ignore the new revelations about who Christopher Columbus was, and in my opinion, it is very hard to continue recognizing him as a hero.”
Ruperti was sharing a meatball sub with his 9-year-old daughter when he was asked what he would tell her if some day she asks him ‘who was Christopher Columbus?'
“I would tell her the truth, and give her the good with the bad,” said Ruperti. “Then I'd let her make her own decision and respect it. That's how issues like this are supposed to work.”
The Columbus Italian Festival resumes Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 720 Hamlet St.