08/28/2026
The Northside still has many descendants of the Italian-American immigrants who raised the money to erect the Columbus Monument. I agree that the OHA is not being neutral in this instance, and I believe the public should know who is serving on the committee before the winner is selected. Supposedly, there is representation from the Italian-American community, but how can the public know if we are not told who is serving? Is there even a representative from one of the families whose ancestors helped make the monument possible?
I am not Italian, but I am also descended from European immigrants. I grew up hearing the stories of discrimination faced by my great-grandparents and by the grandparents who were first-generation Americans. That history is why I understand that monuments can represent more than the person depicted. Sometimes they represent the struggles, sacrifices, and determination of the people who built them.
That does not mean we cannot have an honest conversation about Christopher Columbus, the history of Indigenous peoples, or how we tell the full story of our community. But if this process is truly meant to reflect Syracuse's many perspectives, the descendants of the immigrant families who sacrificed to build this monument deserve to have a voice in shaping its future.
OHA Calls Itself “Neutral.” The Process Says Otherwise.
Let’s stop pretending that the future of Syracuse’s historic Columbus Monument is being debated through some neutral, open-ended exercise.
The Onondaga Historical Association says it is “neutral” about whether the Columbus Monument stays, moves, or is repurposed.
But look at who controls the process.
OHA is running the competition.
OHA’s woke consultants developed the competition guidelines and selection criteria. Mellon FoundationForecast Public Art
And a nine-person Curatorial Committee - whose members remain anonymous - will decide which proposals can even compete and which design wins.
That isn't what most people would call transparent public decision-making!
And then look at the framing.
------------------------------------------------------------
OHA's competition website is packed with anti-monument articles, and claims that the monument represents “colonial expansion.” It describes the monument as “controversial” before the public has even been invited to consider the competing historical perspectives.
Meanwhile, OHA says the purpose is to help people understand “their own history and the history of others.”
Then let's actually do that.
Let's tell the WHOLE story.
Tell the story of the Italian immigrants who came to Syracuse.
Tell the story of the discrimination they faced.
Tell the story of European Americans raising their own money to erect this monument in 1934 - not as an act of colonial conquest, but as an assertion that they belonged in America and in Syracuse.
Tell the story of why Columbus became an important symbol to generations of European Americans.
Tell the story of the monument's place in Syracuse history.
And yes - tell the history of Indigenous peoples and the complicated legacy of Columbus too.
But don't selectively frame history and then call the process neutral.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNtiZYILTEc&mc_cid=b793dc81ae&mc_eid=UNIQID
There is another enormous red flag: OHA says the Curatorial Committee will remain anonymous until after the winner is selected to prevent lobbying and “ensure a fair process.”
Really?
The public is being asked to trust an anonymous committee to decide the future of an important historic monument, while the organization running the process controls the competition framework, and the criteria by which the designs will be judged.
Syracuse taxpayers, residents, and the Italian-American community deserve better than “trust us.”
And here's the question OHA needs to answer:
If keeping the monument exactly where it is truly is an equal option, why does the entire process need to be structured around “revisiting” this beautiful space in the first place?
The monument has stood in Syracuse for generations.
It is part of the city's history.
It is part of Italian-American history.
It is part of the history of immigration, discrimination, assimilation, and the struggle for acceptance in America.
You don't have to like Columbus to believe that history should not be erased.
And you don't have to erase one community's monument to make room for another community's history.
Syracuse can tell more than one story.
It can recognize Indigenous history.
It can acknowledge Columbus's complicated legacy.
It can honor the Italian-American immigrants who built a life here.
And it can keep the Columbus Monument where it belongs - at Columbus Circle - while adding context, education and additional voices around it.
That would be genuine inclusion.
