Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the city’s decision to permanently remove the iconic statues of Christopher Columbus from two area parks, saying it proves “our collective humanity.”
"Art and culture in particular is something that I don’t believe we should erase," Johnson said Tuesday, adding, "We do have to make sure that our presentation is depicting not just truth, but the best part of our existence, which is our collective humanity.”
BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson backs plan to eliminate Columbus statues from Chicago's parks pic.twitter.com/fzXK5745B1
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 7, 2025
Ironically spoken by a dude known for defending rioters who burned businesses and looted stores, called for defunding the police, and stocked the local school board with left-wing cronies.
Despite Johnson claiming he doesn't want to "erase" history, the city decided not to reinstate the statues, which were retired - temporarily at the time - several years ago. Chicago leaders recently reached a deal with the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans over one Columbus statue, which was removed from Arrigo Park in 2020 when Black Lives Matter and Antifa were busy burning down half the country and toppling any monument of a white guy they could get their hands on. That statue will be given to the JCCIA and displayed inside their planned Italian immigrant museum.
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Meanwhile, the base of a Columbus statue that was ripped from its place in Grant Park will now be used for a “rotating art display,” which I can only assume won’t feature statues of white people or anyone even tangentially related to the era of slavery, regardless of their otherwise notable accomplishments.
Progress sure looks an awful lot like regression.