As Cities Ax Columbus Day, Someone Axes Columbus

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

The bust of Christopher Columbus in downtown Detroit took what may have been a political hit on Columbus Day.

Someone taped an ax dripping red paint to the forehead of the towering vestige located at Jefferson and Randolph next to City Hall, according to media reports.

It’s unclear when the statue was vandalized, or what the motivation was, though it occurred as some U.S. citizens switched their Columbus Day observances to Indigenous Peoples Day to reflect a growing movement to recognize the people who were already living in what is now the United States when the Italian explorer discovered the “new world” in 1492.

The Associated Press said that at least nine U.S. cities, including Albuquerque, NM, Anadarko, OK, Portland, OR, St. Paul, MN, and Olympia, WA, changed their observances to recognize Native Americans.

Those campaigning to change the holiday say it overlooks a bloody history of colonialism, murder, slavery, discrimination and land grabs. On the other side are those who want to leave the holiday alone. They argue Columbus Day celebrates centuries-old cultural exchanges between America and Europe, commemorates the iconic explorer, and celebrates Italian-Americans, who have also been targets of discrimination.

In Detroit, though, Monday was still Columbus Day. The vandalized statue was donated to the city on Oct. 11, 1910 by “The Italians of Detroit,” according to an inscription on the front of the bronze statue with a Travertine marble base. It created by Italian sculptor Augusto Rivalta.

Tell Us

• What’s you opinion of Columbus Day?