More than 300 Pittsburgh residents reached out to the Art Commission at or before a virtual meeting Wednesday to discuss the controversial Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park and calls for its removal. And, after three hours and disagreement over whether the six-member commission or Mayor Bill Peduto had the final call on the statue’s fate, the commissioners voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the statue’s future on a future date to be determined.

For some people, Christopher Columbus is a figure who represents Italian pride and the promise of a better life in America. For others, however, the man and his likeness in the form of a statue in Schenley Park ignore his violence toward Indigenous populations and sugarcoat a racist legacy.