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We now know who will help decide the fate of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle. Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed the names of the members of the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers. The group will offer opinions on issues surrounding public art, monuments and markers on city-owned property. The commission...

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On March 14, 1891, in the city of New Orleans, 11 Italian Americans were lynched by an angry mob.  The anger stemmed from a jury’s failure to convict the men of killing a police officer, Daniel Hennessy.  Refusing to accept the verdicts, a crowd marched to the prison where the acquitted defendants were held post-trial, broke down the doors screamin...

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Driven in large part by political correctness and partisan academics and activists, it has become fashionable in recent years to criticize Christopher Columbus and the holiday named in his honor. A closer look, however, reveals the famed explorer to be a man of faith and courage, not a monster. Many of Columbus’ modern critics rely on a warped and...

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Following the movement to remove statues and monuments of racist or otherwise controversial figures from American history, a local group has collected nearly 1,500 signatures in an effort to remove the 117-year-old bust of Christopher Columbus located in downtown Detroit.The petition also comes amid discussions to change the name of Cobo Center, wh...

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Indigenous People’s Day will officially replace Columbus Day on the district’s school calendar after the School Committee voted Tuesday to make the change. It follows a City Council decision in June 2016 to change the second Monday in October to a holiday celebrating the natives, many argue, who were doomed to oppression and enslavement after Chris...

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Following a national trend, the village of Oak Park approved a resolution authorizing Oct. 9 as Indigenous People Day within its boundaries. The resolution was unanimously approved by the Oak Park village board at its Sept. 5 meeting. According to village spokesman David Powers, the resolution applies only to village municipal government, and not t...

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I don’t necessarily oppose the Los Angeles City Council’s replacement of Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day” on the city calendar — I’ve always thought a “John Smith Day” or “John Winthrop Day” would be more appropriate of an American holiday, and the Italian Americans the holiday was originally meant to appease are now thoroughly integrate...

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Longtime Bronx Columbus Day Parade organizer Tony Signorile said when he arrived in America with his family in 1961, the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Square was the second one he visited, after the Statue of Liberty. “What I learned both here and in Italy, was he was a voyager - he sailed from Italy to Spain with no money, got money f...

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The existence of statues, monuments and public displays in Buffalo should not be governed by the whims of an angry mob fueled by delusions of "correcting" history or society. The city of Buffalo, and Western New York as a whole, has many more important issues that are completely unrelated to the names of city parks or any public monuments. History...

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City Councilman Bert Myrin wants Aspen to treat Columbus Day similar to what cities such as Denver, San Francisco and just recently, Los Angeles, have already done: Change it to Indigenous Peoples Day. For now, however, Myrin has not gained enough traction for the change to take effect by the time Columbus Day rolls around Oct. 9. The first-term co...

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