There is a new statue of Christopher Columbus on the White House campus to the delight of the Trump administration and to the chagrin of others.
The likeness of Columbus was donated by the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, per a letter from President Donald Trump thanking the group for the gift.
The president hailed the Italian explorer as “one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth.”
Columbus became a polarizing figure in 2020 when there was civil unrest lsparked by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Columbus’ Spanish-funded voyages from the 1490s onward paved the way for Europe’s conquests of the Americas. This is something activists say should not be celebrated.
Trump wrote in his letter the statue installed outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building is a replica of a sculpture that “anti-American rioters” tore down in Baltimore, Maryland, in July 2020 and dumped in the harbor.
“In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero. And he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Sunday.
The Trump administration has dismantled slavery exhibits and restored Confederate statues.
These are moves that civil rights advocates say could reverse decades of social progress.
