Elmhurst Politician Wants Columbus Statues Back Up

ELMHURST, IL — A DuPage County Board member from Elmhurst has called for the return of three statues in honor of Christopher Columbus to Chicago parks.

Last year, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the statues down. She said she did so as a safety precaution. The city has held out the possibility that the statues may come back, but is awaiting a report from its monuments commission.

On his Facebook page last month, DuPage County Board member Pete DiCianni, a Republican, alerted his followers about Italian Unity Day on July 25, an event in which participants called for the return of the Columbus statues.

In one post, DiCianni, who is raising money to run for DuPage County Board chairman next year, asked people to "Protect our Heritage, Religion and Culture," he said.

He noted a bus going to the event would leave Elmhurst City Hall.

"Elmhurst boasts one of the largest Italian, Irish, Polish and Catholic communities, many of which, myself included, are interwoven and make up the fabric of our town," said DiCianni, a former Elmhurst mayor.

In a post after the event, he noted that both Hispanic and Italian American leaders attended. One of the Hispanic officials, he said, spoke in support of returning the privately owned statues and keeping the Columbus Day Parade "to honor all minorities who were discriminated and victimized, including the Italians who fought so hard for their Day of Faith & Culture."

Chicago's Columbus Day parade was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. It is scheduled for Oct. 11 this year.

In one of his posts, DiCianni described Columbus as hired by the queen of Spain "to explore and find new land, which turned out to be the Americas."

Opponents of the Columbus statues say the explorer is to blame for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples.

Last year, DiCianni drew public attention from his clashes with Black Lives Matter supporters.

DiCianni did not return a message for comment on Wednesday about the statues.