The Christopher Columbus statue in Buffalo's Columbus Park was removed Friday morning on orders from Mayor Byron Brown and agreement of the Buffalo Common Council. It followed a request by the Federation of Italian-American Societies of Western New York to have the statue taken down so it is not a distraction to the social justice movement currently underway, and to protect the statue from damage.
"We wanted to preserve this space as a future memorial to the Italian immigrant," said Don Alessi, past president of the federation. Across the nation, several Columbus statues have been targeted for destruction because of Columbus's controversial history concerning the treatment of indigenous peoples.
