{"id":154216,"date":"2025-08-17T22:53:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154216\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T22:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:53:33","slug":"columbia-statue-set-to-return-to-namesake-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154216\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia Statue Set to Return to Namesake City"},"content":{"rendered":"

The effect of wokeness may be fading in Ohio\u2019s<\/a> capital city. Years after the Christopher Columbus statue was removed in Columbus in 2020 during the height of Black Lives Matter protests, there are plans to restore the statue to public prominence.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Brian Stewart<\/a>, a Republican who represents Ohio\u2019s 12th District, shared news about an Aug. 16 event from Reimagining Columbus to unveil the design for a new display featuring the statue.<\/p>\n

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A 19-member board was established to spend $2 million studying what to do with the Christopher Columbus statue owned by the City of Columbus. ?<\/p>\n

Sounds like they\u2019re putting it back up somewhere but will surround it with a bunch of hand-wringing woke art? ????? pic.twitter.com\/Wwg1rRaogy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Brian Stewart (@BrianStewartOH) August 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Reimagining Columbus website references a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation provided in 2023 for the project. Werth PR\u2019s Dan Williamson, a project consultant, explained to The Daily Signal that no public funds are involved. \u201cThis is entirely funded by the Melon Foundation monuments project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The website also detailed<\/a> how Columbus was cancelled by the city bearing his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Columbus statue was removed from City Hall on July 1, 2020, following local protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis,\u201d the website explained, further explaining that that same month, Columbus Day was eliminated as a paid holiday by the Franklin County Commissioners and replaced with Juneteenth<\/a>. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to mothball a statute of Christopher Columbus\u2014in Columbus of all places\u2014was a dumb move made at the height of the woke insanity post-2020,\u201d Stewart told The Daily Signal, adding more perspective on the Black Lives Matter<\/a> protests at the time.<\/p>\n

The website also takes aim at the historic figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocumented abuses of indigenous people by Christopher Columbus had, for some time, brought into question whether celebrations and memorials to him were insensitive,\u201d the webpage states. \u201cAs a result of the removal and storage of the statue, the Columbus Arts Commission formed a committee to make recommendations about the statue\u2019s future. One idea was to relocate the statue and to include with it extensive contextual material that could tell a more complete and nuanced story.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Columbus statues<\/a> have been targeted and Columbus Day has been replaced or celebrated as Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day, National Italian American Foundation President and CEO Robert Allegrini explained the importance of the holiday to Italian Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cItalian Americans have long viewed Columbus Day as more than simply honoring one historical figure\u2014it represents the beginning of centuries of immigration to America and the struggles and achievements of those who followed, particularly our Italian ancestors,\u201d Allegrini shared with The Daily Signal. \u201cThe Columbus statues and celebrations that have been targeted in recent years were often established by early Italian immigrants who collected \u2018literally nickels and dimes\u2019 to fund monuments representative of their culture during times when Italian Americans faced significant discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reimagining Columbus project does include a pro-Columbus perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project has had outstanding participation from members of Columbus\u2019 Italian-American community, many of whom expressed positive views about both the Christopher Columbus statue, as well as Christopher Columbus the man,\u201d Williamson explained to The Daily Signal. \u201cTheir participation and their feedback is reflected in the fact that the statue is included in the design that will be unveiled this weekend. Under the design\u2014which would need a designated site and a funding plan\u2014people would again be able to visit the statue, which was a gift to Columbus from our sister city, Genoa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such perspective would be welcome in a city that hardly celebrates Columbus despite bearing his name. \u201cEven Columbus, Ohio, no longer observes its namesake\u2019s holiday, having renamed it Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day in 2020,\u201d Pew Research noted in October 2023<\/a>. Columbus City Schools are also not closed for the occasion.<\/p>\n

The Columbus Dispatch, in October 2023<\/a>, noted changes made in the city. \u201cBecause the federal holiday celebrating Columbus has become a contentious issue,\u201d it reported, \u201cmost local governments and other public entities here have moved the day off elsewhere.\u201d <\/p>\n

Context can be provided on Columbus without needing to involve contention or sacrificing the importance of celebrating Italian-Americans, Allegrini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile historical figures should always be understood in their full context, Columbus Day at its core commemorates a momentous chapter in human exploration that ultimately connected the world in unprecedented ways. For Italian Americans, the holiday holds special significance as a celebration of our heritage, but its broader importance lies in recognizing how this singular voyage reshaped global history and set in motion the complex series of events that would eventually create the American nation we know today,\u201d Allegrini added. \u201cBy preserving Columbus Day, we honor not just one man or one community, but the remarkable human capacity for discovery, adaptation, and progress that continues to define our shared American journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reimaging Columbus project thus may present a \u201cunique\u201d opportunity, Williamson said. \u201cI believe this project is unique in that no other community that has removed a Columbus statue has undergone a process to consider how to bring it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to plans for bringing back the statue taking down in 2020, a Columbus statue also still exists in the statehouse.<\/p>\n