Worcester Won't Remove Christopher Columbus Statue

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester City Council has effectively killed a proposal to remove the city's Christopher Columbus statue after a debate that pitted the desires of the local Italian-American community against residents offended by the genocide attributed to Columbus and his 1492 expedition.

In an 8-2 vote Tuesday night, the Council voted to "file" an order from District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera seeking the removal of the statue. Only Rivera and At-large Councilor Khrystian King voted for the item. Mayor Joseph Petty recused himself from the vote.

Rivera's order asked the city manager to "work with the Italian-American community in the city to remove the Christopher Columbus statue ... and replace said statue with an appropriate statue or memorial to honor the many contributions of Worcester's Italian community."

A second motion brought by King asked the City Manager to start a conversation with the Italian community about the statue, but without an explicit mention of removal. That failed on an 8-3 vote with only Rivera, King, and District 1 Councilor Sean Rose in favor.

At the beginning of the meeting, a few residents spoke during public comment against Rivera's order — but many more spoke for removing Columbus.

"It seems the indigenous people could not get our Columbus Day parade, so now they're trying for our statute," resident Rose Porcaro, 88, said. "We don't know what's coming next."

When it came time to vote on the motion, Rivera gave a long explanation about why she was proposing the removal now. She said that recent upheaval over racism in the U.S. has provided an opportunity to address the "profound and deep" hurt Columbus' effigy causes for many people.

Rivera said there are plenty of other exemplary Italians who could be honored with a statue.

"[Columbus] probably was an amazing navigator, but it doesn't take away from how much pain he caused," she said.

Councilors Candy Mero-Carlson and Donna Colorio — who both claim Italian heritage — said that removing the statue would be hurtful to the Italian-American community.

"I don't think for us at this point that we get the right to tell [Italians] what they're going to do with their statue," Mero-Carlson said.

District 3 Councilor George Russell said the Italian community is still reeling from the demolition of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church last fall.

Removing the statue would be "one more thing they shouldn't be put through at this time," Russell said.

City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said the statue was given by a family as a gift to the city. Under the agreement, the statue must be kept in a public place. If it were to be taken down, the city would be in violation of the agreement, and the statue would be given back to the heirs of the family who gifted it originally.

This isn't the first vote where the Worcester Council rallied behind Christopher Columbus.

In December, the Worcester City Council voted to reaffirm the city's commitment to celebrating Columbus Day after a request from the Sons of Italy. That vote came several weeks after a citizen submitted a petition asking the City Council to observe Indigenous People's Day — many cities in the United States, including Somerville, Amherst and Cambridge, have adopted that holiday as an alternative to celebrating Columbus.

The Columbus statue was vandalized on June 23 when it was doused in red paint, the word "genocide" scrawled on the base.