Columbus Day dispute: A once-removed statue reappears in Rhode Island

By James On Oct 6, 2023

Three years after a statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from a plaza in Providence, Rhode Island, the bronze cast has resurfaced, this time in a park in Johnston, Rhode Island, about 9 miles west of the capital.

The statue had been targeted by vandals and was at one point splashed with red paint and a sign leaning against its plinth read: ‘Stop celebrating genocide’. The statue was removed in 2020.

Activists say celebrating Columbus ignores the rape, murder and genocide suffered by indigenous people during European settlement in North America.

Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. van Johnston said residents of his heavily Italian-American city are happy to give the statue a new home.

“It’s important, and not just for Italian Americans. It’s American history. It is world history, if you look at it from a historical perspective,” he said.

Although he was not the first European to land in North America — believed to be Leif Erikson — Columbus helped usher in a wave of European exploration and expansion, and ultimately the age of globalization, Mr. Polisena said.

After the statue was removed and placed in storage, it was purchased for about $50,000 by former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr., who then reached out to see if Johnston would take it, Mr. Polisena said.

The statue – which depicts Columbus pointing forward with his right arm while holding a globe in his left hand – will be formally unveiled on Monday.

“I don’t want it to be destroyed. I don’t want it to melt down,” Mr Polisena said. “People need to learn about him, the good and the bad.”

Mr. Polisena said he understands the criticism of Columbus, but said it is unfair to use the 2023 standards to measure the actions of someone who lived five centuries ago.

Not everyone is happy about the relocation of the 15th-century explorer’s likeness.

According to Harrison Tuttle, president of Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC, the statue should never have been brought back to life after it was removed.

“You don’t have to be Indigenous to understand the damage Christopher Columbus caused,” he said. “To see it go back up is really deafening all the progress we made just three years ago.”

Mr. Tuttle said he understands the connection many of Italian descent feel to Columbus, but said he should not be the vehicle for the pride Italian-Americans feel for their contributions to the country.

He also said he wished the mayor had spoken to community members who felt offended by the decision to install the statue.

“My grandmother who helped raise me was Italian and I grew up in a predominantly Italian neighborhood,” he said. “At the same time, there are better ways to celebrate your heritage and culture without celebrating someone who, in my opinion, is the exact opposite of what Italian culture is.”

Other cities have struggled with the legacy of Columbus statues.

In 2020, Boston’s statue of Christopher Columbus, located in the city’s largely Italian North End neighborhood, was taken down after its head was chopped off.

In 2020, a statue of Columbus in Richmond, Virginia, was torn down, set on fire and thrown into a lake by protesters. In 2022, a statue of Columbus was removed from the Capitol rotunda in California. Also last year, crews removed a plywood box that had been placed over a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia.

Camden, New Jersey, also removed their Columbus statue.

Darrell Waldron, executive director of the Rhode Island Indian Council, said there is no love lost between Native peoples and Columbus’ legacy.

“I think Columbus opened a Pandora’s box for the indigenous people,” he said. “People who were victims of rape, murder and genocide did not write history.”