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The city of Syracuse will remove its statue of Christopher Columbus and rename Columbus Circle, Mayor Ben Walsh announced Friday.

The announcement comes as residents denounce the statue as a symbol of colonialism and white supremacy. Over 18,000 people have signed a petition since June calling for the city to remove the statue and for Walsh to condemn the racist violence the statue represents. Indigenous community members with the Resilient Indigenous Action Collective also held a rally in June to urge Syracuse officials to remove the statue.

The city will move the statue to a private location that has yet to be determined, Walsh said in a press release. The circle will provide year-round education on the impacts of colonialism, recognize the Onondaga Nation and highlight the contributions of Indigenous people, Black and brown Americans and immigrants, according to the release.

The fountain and monument will remain in the circle as a permanent memorial to Italian Americans, he said. Members of the city’s Italian American community raised money to construct the statue of Columbus in an expression of gratitude toward Syracuse.

“The removal of the Columbus statue from its place of prominence downtown is welcome, even if the resolution to do so represents a compromise, and as with most compromises, it will not fully satisfy anyone,” said Scott Stevens, director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University, in a press release following Walsh’s announcement.

The mayor will appoint a commission to determine the statue’s new location and what specific changes will occur at the circle, including its new name.

Walsh expects the project to unfold in the coming months. The Syracuse Public Art Commission and the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board must first approve plans for the statue’s removal and the circle’s renaming.

“If the site were at least one of truth and recognition – in this case of our complicated and often conflicting relationships to one another’s respective communities – that would be a welcome change to a statue celebrating a figure who represents an on-going cataclysm for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas,” Stevens said.

Published on October 9, 2020 at 9:41 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan