CDZ In defense of Columbus

[sakinago]

Italian Americans have reacted with anger after two statues of Christopher Columbus in Chicago were removed under cover of darkness in the early hours of Friday morning under the orders of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Before dawn, city crews used cranes to remove a monument in Chicago's Little Italy and a massive bronze statue in Grant Park, which were first erected at the city's first and second World's Fairs in 1893 and 1933, respectively.

Italian American community leaders say they were taken aback by Lightfoot's abrupt order to remove the statues, which Lightfoot calls a 'temporary' measure until passions cool. The Grant Park statue was at the center of violent scenes last week, when 49 police officers were injured by a mob hurling rocks and fireworks while attempting to tear the statue down.

Italian Americans slam Chicago's mayor for removing Columbus statues

Before dawn, city crews used cranes to remove a monument in Chicago's Little Italy and a massive bronze statue in Grant Park, which were first erected at the city's first and second World's Fairs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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I have posted that I understand the anger towards confederate monuments and statues. My view was these people rebelled against the nation so why honor them. The purpose of this thread is not to reargue this point. My only concern is that they should not just be pulled down but go through the legal process before they are removed.

Columbus on the hand is of a different kind. Columbus statues were erected not as a point of “white supremacy” but as a point of pride by recently arrived Italian immigrants who were facing hardships as they assimilated into the American melting pot. If anything these statues were a finger in the eye to those who looked down on them.

Columbus was flawed. There is no doubt about that. However, the statues need to be looked at the historical context in which they were erected.

Mayor Lightfoot says this was a temporary measure. We shall see.

Yeah people don’t know that the first group that wanted to remove the Columbus statues were the KKK. The Columbus statues were built as an Italian pride thing to welcome in the influx of Italian immigrants. The KKK hated the Italians. Basically the Columbus statues are just a perfect example of the fact that humanity’s natural default is tribal. Tribalism is a double edged sword with one edge being very dull these days. It was far more useful to us when we still lived in tribes much like chimps do, and when resources were extremely hard to obtain. The Protestant Irish loath the catholic and vise versa, the Rawandan genocide, S. Koreans treating N. Korean defectors as less than, the Indian cast system, modern day American GOP vs Democrat. We drift towards tribes and love the feeling of struggling against an enemy tribe. It’s in our nature. That’s why we’re seeing the riots today because as humans, at least in the past, there was a tribe out there going to kill the men, rape the women, steal our resources. We need to be more grateful to the principles laid out by the founders, and let those principles be our tribe, not color, not world views. The only way to successfully live in a world where were are quickly eliminating need and want, is too unite behind the values of “to each their own, inherent rights, don’t hurt others, don’t steal from others.”

 

[blackhawk]

All historical figures need to be looked at in the context of the times they lived in not just Columbus. Everyone to some degree is a product of the time they live in to try and apply the standards of 2020 to people who lived 200 plus years ago is more than a little silly.