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| Photo Credit: AP. |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia remains hidden by a plywood box while its fate is decided in the courts, but the box has now been painted with the colors of the Italian flag.
City
officials told the news station KYW that they painted the box covering the
146-year-old statue in south Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza with green, white and
red stripes at the request of Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents the
district.
The new look
came just in time for Columbus Day, the holiday now celebrated in Philadelphia
and elsewhere as Indigenous Peoples Day.
Thomas
DeFino, one of the residents who gathered in the park Sunday afternoon to
celebrate their Italian American heritage with a parade and festival, welcomed
the change, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
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| Photo Credit: AP. |
“They did it for us — the Italians. It made us feel a little bit better,” DeFino said. “It’s to honor our heritage. They had to pull some strings to paint it.”
While he
appreciated the gesture, DeFino said, he noted that the statue was “still in a
box.”
“He should
have been taken out at least for one day,” he said.
Mabel
Negrete, executive director of Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly Inc., told the
Inquirer it was “unfortunate” that some Italian Americans in the city continued
to celebrate Columbus. The painting of the box in colors of the Italian flag,
she said, “undermines intentions to move forward.”
Supporters
in Philadelphia, a city with a deep Italian heritage, say they consider Columbus
an emblem of that heritage.
Mayor Jim
Kenney said Columbus was venerated for centuries as an explorer but had a “much
more infamous” history, enslaving Indigenous people and imposing punishments
such as severing limbs or even death.
After protests
about racial injustice began in June 2020 and some focused on the statue,
Kenney ordered its removal, calling it a matter of public safety. A judge last
year, however, reversed the city’s decision, saying it had failed to provide
evidence that the statue’s removal was necessary to protect the public.
A lawsuit
settlement announced last year allowed another 106-foot-tall Christopher
Columbus monument at Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River to remain in place
with coverings removed for the foreseeable future, the Inquirer reported.