Save the Statue Rally
Save the Statue Rally: Columbus Circle • October 7th • 10am
Position Statement
We can’t change history. We can’t rewrite history. And we most certainly cannot erase history. But we can learn from History…and we have learned much.
• We’ve learned that Columbus did not discover America.
• We’ve learned that Columbus never actually set foot in America.
• Importantly, we’ve learned that Columbus could not have mistreated Native Americans since he never set foot on American soil.
• He didn’t kill off sixty million buffalo, depleting the native’s food supply.
• He didn’t steal native lands, give them smallpox, or enslave them.
• He was not responsible for the atrocities committed against Native Americans nor did he participate in their genocide.
• The United States Government did that…and more.
While Columbus may not be the hero we had previously been led to believe, he was also not a genocidal maniac or villain whose statue should be removed. He was, in fact, a skilled mariner with the courage to pursue his beliefs. Whatever failings history may impute to him, he was an adventurer, and adventurers teach us all the valuable lesson that the horizon of the known is not necessarily the limit of what is true. Most importantly, he was a hero to the many thousands of immigrants from countries around the world who themselves sailed off into an unknown new world.
Paid for by immigrants donating their precious nickels and dimes during the Great Depression, the statue at Columbus Circle has stood for 90 years. It was given to the City of Syracuse as a symbol of shared pride in their homeland, and love of their newly adopted country.
It is a symbol of our city’s history, our shared immigrant and refugee heritage, and one of our city’s finest representations of public art…but it is now in real danger of being removed if we all do not take a stand. So, we invite you to join us…And this is us:
• We are native born. We are immigrants. We are refugees. We are the descendants of those who were brought here in slave ships against their will. We are white, black and brown. We have come seeking a better life, religious freedom, and an end to persecution, famine and war. We have come to declare our rightful place as American citizens. We are Native American and we are Irish. We are Italian and we are Jewish. We are Polish. We are German. We are Latino. We are Ukrainian. We are Macedonian. We are Asian. We are Bhutanese, Sudanese, Hispanic, Armenian and Greek.
• We are Veterans. Veterans who have fought and died in our nation’s wars to protect our freedoms.
• We are doctors, nurses and health care professionals who have cared for one another and always helped those in need.
• We have fed the hungry. We have housed the homeless.
• We are Americans who have fought and continue to fight injustice, intolerance and discrimination. We have fought against sexism, homophobia, gender discrimination, racism, antisemitism and bigotry. We have fought for social and racial justice and for civil and human rights.
We are one. And we are Syracuse.
We respectfully ask that the current city administration and all future city administrations immediately and permanently abandon their efforts to remove the statue. Let’s move forward together, remembering history, sharing heritage, and appreciating art.
We ask that all who feel similarly now join us in fighting to preserve our statue, which rightfully belongs to all of the people of Syracuse, not to any one ethnic group and not to any one political administration.
by Frank Malfitano & Anthony Ilacqua
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