At a meeting Thursday evening, New Britain’s city council is expected to consider removing a Christopher Columbus statue from McCabe Park in the city. Members of the council who favor removing the monument say the explorer symbolizes a dark history of white supremacy and violence against indigenous people in the Americas. They say the statue, which was erected in 1941, provides little educational value outside of a museum. If the removal goes ahead, it could be replaced with another symbol of the contributions of Italian Americans. Columbus supporters say removing his statue amounts to erasing part of history.
