Written by Will Seykora
This past Tuesday, the Chula Vista City Council approved the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue from Discovery Park. This marks another instance of the left erasing history, while directly benefitting from the actions of those the statues represent. During the City Council Meeting, a demonstration with about fifty people was being held in support of the removal of the statue. One member of the Kiowa Tribe stated “You can’t honor someone like that that killed our people.” Also calling it a “Very disgusting situation.” The statue has been in storage since 2019 after it was vandalized with red paint on Indigenous People’s Day, however, after Tuesday’s vote it seems like we won’t ever be seeing the landmark again.
The removal was passed in a 4-1 vote with Councilmembers Andrea Cardenas, Stephen Padilla, Jill Galvez, and Mayor Mary Casillas Salas all voting yes. While John McCann stood alone fighting for the preservation of this historical landmark in Chula Vista. Jill Galvez promised several of her constituents she would vote against the removal of the statue however when the votes were cast she backed out on that promise.
However, some community members want to preserve the statue. They say that the good Columbus provided to North America shouldn’t be overshadowed by the acts committed by him and other Europeans in the 1600s. A Knight of Columbus, Knight Michael Brault, says “The Knights of Columbus is an organization that still has that name and honoring him because he brought Catholicism to America,” This comes after two members of the organization offered to buy the Columbus statue and reinstall it at their headquarters in Fontana, California.
The San Diego chapter of the Sons and Daughters of Italy also offered to buy the statue. “It is a story to be told for future generations to come about our journey as Italian immigrants and how we rose above,” said Daughter Grace Sardina.
Discovery Park, where the statue made its home for over thirty years, is also going to be renamed with help from the Kumeyaay Native American Tribes. However, the removal of this statue may be seen as a wake-up call to many San Diegans. Everyone knows that Christopher Columbus committed very horrible acts after arriving in the Americas, but should that nullify the feats that came as a result of his discovery? Some of the greatest humanitarians have come from the land Columbus once mistook for India and most of mankind’s technological feats were due to the resources this land provided.
