On Columbus Day I was thoroughly amused by Larry Richert’s interview on KDKA Radio with Italian Sons and Daughters of America President Basil Russo, during which both host and guest expressed the belief that by removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park, the city is erasing history and depriving people of the opportunity to learn that history.
Maybe it has been so long since these men were in school that they have forgotten how learning happens: People learn history from teachers, textbooks and museums, not statues. No students are taking class field trips to the Columbus statue, Columbus isn’t hopping down off his plinth to sing an educational tune about the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, and Columbus was presumably not forgotten between 1492 and 1958 when the statue was erected.
Statues are not history; statues are peoples’ attempt to honor someone of historical significance. So, what would future generations possibly learn from this statue, other than the date upon which Columbus “discovered” a land already full of inhabitants? They would learn that Columbus was someone who deserves to be honored with a statue, and that is about it.
If you think Columbus should still be afforded a place of honor in our public spaces, then by all means argue that point with actual historical evidence. Do not, however, confuse a societal token of historical reverence for actual history, or insinuate that taking down a statue will somehow deprive people of the opportunity to learn this history.
Albert Anderson
Aspinwall