NYC Considering Taking Down Statues Of George Washington And Christopher Columbus

New York’s City Council has announced plans to consider taking down statues of such legendary figures as George Washington and Christopher Columbus. This comes two years after New York City removed a statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall because he owned slaves during his lifetime over 200 years ago.

Washington And Columbus Statues In Danger In NYC

Fox News reported that the council’s Cultural Affairs Committee is considering legislation that would remove art on city property that “depict a person who owned enslaved persons or directly benefited economically from slavery, or who participated in systemic crimes against indigenous peoples or other crimes against humanity.”

Both Washington and Columbus were slave owners.

Authored by Brooklyn Council Sany Nurse, the bill states that if the commission finds that a statue or monument honors someone who committed crimes against humanity, but then votes against removing the artwork, the city must install an “explanatory plaque” that details the alleged misdeeds of the historic figure.

“This bill would also require the Department of Transportation to consult with the Department of Education to install plaques on sidewalks or other public space adjacent to schools that are named after a person that fits the criteria,” Nurse stated.

Find out more about this in the video below.

Critics Fire Back

Critics, however, are already fighting back by saying that this is yet another example of cancel culture going too far.

“Columbus was a migrant!’’ Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition, told The New York Post.

Vivolo went on to pledge that he will fight the removal of any Columbus statue in New York City, with the most famous one being the explorer’s statue at Columbus Circle.

“I thought this was behind us. This woke group wants to cancel our culture,” Vivolo lamented. “I’m here for the fight. The Italian-American community will come out strongly against this move to ban Columbus, a symbol of Italian-American accomplishment. But it’s not just Columbus. You’re going against Washington, Jefferson. You’re going against the people who contributed greatly to America.”

Republican lawmakers in New York agree with him.

“This is little more than an attempt by the radical left to rewrite our nation’s history,” said Joann Ariola (R-Queens). “These men all had an enormous impact on this country, and these statues commemorating their achievements have been in place for decades.

“The radical left has been trying to reframe our nation as one born from evil, and it is time we put our foot down and say enough is enough,” she continued. “The Founding Fathers and the others who worked so hard to establish this great country should be celebrated, not eliminated from memory.”

Related: Pelosi Shrugs Off Columbus Statue Destruction, Is Accused Of Being ‘Complicit With Criminal Activity’

Council Republican Minority Leader Joe Borelli blasted his Democrat colleagues for this measure.

“How original. The Council is good for a statue-banning committee every year or so, second only to our annual ‘cars are bad’ hearing,” Borelli said. “By now, they get the same attention as the World Series of obscure Canadian winter sports on ESPN Ocho. Even the MyPillow guy wouldn’t buy ads during the broadcast.”

Jefferson Statue Removed 

Unfortunately, this threat against historic statues and monuments is not an idle one. In 2021, a 187 year-old statue of Thomas Jefferson was removed from City Hall over the former president’s ties to slavery.

“Thomas Jefferson was a slaveholder who owned over 600 human beings,” Councilmember Adrienne Adams, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, said at the time, according to CNN.

“It makes me deeply uncomfortable knowing that we sit in the presence of a statue that pays homage to a slaveholder who fundamentally believed that people who look like me were inherently inferior, lacked intelligence, and were not worthy of freedom or right,” she continued.

Find out more about this in the video below.

Related: Minneapolis Rioters Take Down Columbus Statue That Was Created By An Immigrant

This is all just more sad examples of how the woke left wants to completely erase our country’s rich history. Washington and Columbus were heroic men who deserve to be commemorated with their historic monuments. We can only hope that this woke effort to erase them fails miserably.