Brindisi Speaks Out on the Columbus Statue in Utica

Should the Columbus statue in Utica remain? Local officials say it should. That includes Congressman Anthony Brindisi.

The statue in question is located at the intersection of Mohawk Street and the Memorial Parkway in the city of Utica.  A local group is protesting Columbus's believed brutal treatment of indigenous people back when he accidentally discovered America some 500-plus years ago in 1492. Now, they want the statue in Utica taken down.

October 12, 1492 marks the beginning of that genocide, when Columbus arrived in the Americas. 100 million Indigenous people were eventually massacred here. This genocide that exterminated 95% of the native population.  It is the largest and most atrocious genocide ever committed in the history of humanity. In solidarity with the descendants of the 5% who survived, we are asking the city of Utica to stop honoring the man who started this genocide.  The statue of Columbus represents his legacy of mass murdering, raping, pillaging, torturing, and the enslaving Indigenous men, women, children, and babies of the western hemisphere.  -Petition at Change.org

Congressman Anthony Brindisi made it clear on Thursday, that he supports the Utica statue and feels it should stay where it is. "Columbus may have sailed the ocean blue in 1492, but he should stay where he belongs---on the Parkway-- in 2020 and beyond," Brindisi said.

Now, there are two petitions circulating on Change.org. One petition is calling for the statue to come down, and another is calling for it to stay right where it is.

In the light of recant events, some misguided souls have started a movement to remove the long standing Statue of Christopher Columbus located on the corner of Mohawk St and the Parkway in Utica New York.  For those of us that have a good handle of our history we believe the statue should be allowed to stay. In recent years many false versions of history have been spread through out the world and have cause many people to feel that the right thing to do is to try and erase the parts of history you don't agree with. History is not to be erased but remembered and learned from good, bad or indifferent. I feel that if we as Americans continue to erase our history I fear that we will turn this country into a disorganized, unsafe and uncontrollable mess that will destroy the American way of life for ever. I would like to encourage all Americans to reconsider erasing our history, but take pride in all and learn from the wrongs so it never happens again. As an American of Italian descent, I find it an insult to all American-Italians that Christopher Columbus is being treated as such a villain.   - Petition to keep the statue, Change.org

Here are links to both petitions:

Residents wishing to remove the statue have a petition on Change.org. Here's the link:  click here

Residents looking to save the Columbus Statue also have a petition to save the statue at Change.org. Here's the link: click here