A resolution to move a statue of Christopher Columbus from a prominent city park is headed back to the City Council for possible final approval.
Introduced by two Democratic Council members, Ald. Chris Anderson (D-AL) and Ald. Colin Osborn (D-2), the resolution calls for the removal of the statue of Columbus from its present location on city parkland at the corner of Main and North streets and replacing it with another symbol honoring Italian Americans in New Britain.
At its December 2, 2020 meeting, the Council’s Committee on Administration, Finance and Law voted to return the resolution back to the full Council with a neutral recommendation.
The issue of moving the statue has been the subject of intense debate for months, with community activists advocating for this removal. Opposition to moving the statue has been expressed, but has drawn strongly worded rebukes from community leaders about racist comments made against removing the statue.
In the December 2nd committee meeting, Ald. Osborn again highlighted that bigotry, expressing the irony that many of the hateful comments arguing for keeping Columbus statue actually show why it should be removed.
Saying the opposition to removal of the statue is about a sense of entitlement over ownership and resources, Ald. Osborn said, “Real, true diversity is incorporated into the fabric of the community. It’s incorporated into policy. It’s incorporated in governmental affairs.”
“You can’t say, ‘keep the Christopher Columbus monument up, it’s about diversity, but to hell with the rest of you all who don’t like it,'” Ald. Osborn said. “If you want better, you’re going to seek the truth,” he added. “The entire city of New Britain is not celebrating this monument.”
Saying that she wanted a Council committee to consider who is to remove the statue, at what costs and where it will go, Ald. Sharon Beloin-Saavedra (R-AL) made the motion at the November 12th Council meeting to refer the resolution to the committee.
Addressing those questions at the December 2nd committee meeting, Ald. Anderson said that the removal of the statue would be done by the city, with specialized assistance from an outside contractor. However, the city’s Purchasing Agent advised Council members not to publicly discuss possible prices, in case a public bid would be required.
Ald. Anderson also said that effort was made to invite local Italian organizations to take possession of the statue, but that none had yet agreed to do so. Ald. Daniel Salerno (R-AL), later added that local Italian organizations may not have the money to maintain the statue.
At the committee meeting, Ald. Beloin-Saavedra spoke in favor of the resolution. “Taking the statue down doesn’t erase history,” she said. “What it says is we, as a community are saying we are not celebrating what this individual perpetrated during his voyages.” She added that there are Italian Americans who are more worthy of honor.
Ald. Anderson said that the debate on the statue is not so much about the particulars of history, but rather about, “what the symbol of Columbus means to the residents of this city.” Though many Italian Americans, “believe that Columbus represents the struggle of their ancestors,” he said that, “many who look at that Columbus statue see a history of oppression, of enslavement, of white supremacy.”
“This statue represents colonialism,” said Rep.-Elect Manny Sanchez (D-24), “it represents racism and it most certainly represents hate – in a city that is clearly as diverse as we talk about.”
After debate on the resolution, the committee took a short recess. When it returned to business, Ald. Beloin-Saavedra made a motion, which was approved without opposition, to strike out two paragraphs explaining the purpose of the resolution – one discussing Columbus as a symbol of white supremacy and the other about a petition signed by people to remove the statue. The removal of the paragraphs had no effect on what the resolution would actually do.
The amendment left intact the part of the resolution that would order that, “the City of New Britain will immediately remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from McCabe Park and donate it to a local Italian American organization.”
The resolution also says that, the city will work with the city’s Italian American community, “to find a symbol to honor the significant contributions of Italian Americans to our city that can be celebrated by the entire New Britain community.”
The vote to return the resolution to the full Council was approved by the committee, with only Ald. Salerno voting no for the record. Other committee members present were Ald. Richard Reyes (D-AL), Ald. Howard Dyson (R-AL) and Ald. Robert Smedley (R-4), who did not vote on the motion, since he chaired the meeting.
With nationwide protests against racism and inequality including a focus on bringing down symbols of racism and colonialism, renewed attention to accounts from a priest, Bartolome de las Casas, and others, telling about enslavement, murder, rape and other brutality upon native peoples under Columbus’ conquests have led to successful calls for statues of him being removed in some cities.
The New Britain Racial Justice Coalition has been advocating for the city to remove the statue since July. The group held a protest against the statue in July and has been pressing for its removal since.
New Britain NAACP President Ronald P. Davis commented in July that,
Although Christopher Columbus is remembered as a ground-breaking explorer, we must remember his actions led to the transatlantic slave trade and the mass killing and exploitation of indigenous people. He is the cornerstone of ‘Institutional Racism’ in America.
“As a community, we cannot continue to praise a man who stole land and continually chose to dehumanize native people,” Davis said in his July comments, “Why should we have a statue, or a street dedicated to anyone who stands as a symbol for the violence?”
The resolution now returns to the full City Council, for possible final approval. The next Council meeting is on December 9, 2020.
