New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Thursday defended New York City’s statue paying tribute to Christopher Columbus amid the toppling of monuments of the colonizer as well as Confederate generals after George Floyd’s death.
If I were you, Cuomo, I’d opt for Enrico Fermi.
Enrico Fermi (Italian: [enˈriːko ˈfermi]; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the “architect of the nuclear age”[1] and the “architect of the atomic bomb”.[2] He was one of very few physicists to excel in both theoretical physics and experimental physics. Fermi held several patents related to the use of nuclear power, and was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements. He made significant contributions to the development of statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and nuclear and particle physics.
#BREAKING: Gov. Andrew Cuomo says it’s not time for Christopher Columbus statue to go: “The Christopher Columbus statue in some way represents the Italian American legacy in this country.”
I guess the question to pose to the Governor would be: “In what way?”
“represents” the legacy and contributions of Italian Americans in the country.
I am sure that Italians could find a better person to represent them. Not only Columbus was working on behalf of Spain (there was no such thing as Italy back then) , he was a cruel, greedy and mendacious SOB even by the standards of his time. He was brought back to Spain in chains accused among other things of abusing the natives.
No doubt Columbus has a place in history, but I am not sure you want to make the representative of anything. If Italians want to have an explorer represent them, Americus Vespucci is a much better choice, not only he doesn’t have as much baggage (he was also working for the Spanish), but the freaking country is named after him!!
Exactly. I don’t believe that Columbus ever set foot in what is now the contiguous US.
Nit picky on a technicality but wasn’t Columbus really a Genoan?
Genoa is a port city by birth, establishing itself as the merchant capital of the newly established Republic of Genoa in 1005 and maintaining its autonomy until 1797.[
There is controversy even about that, Columbus was a Trump-grade liar, that could not be trusted on anything.
Details, details, it’s not like the Poles haven’t been advocating for a national Casimir Pulaski Day, a Revolutionary War hero who also was the Father of American Calvary. They just seemed to have settled naming various counties after him.
How about a statue of a pizza or bowl of pasta, bruschetta, inscribed with Nona’s recipes. JHC, a genocidal maniac is your chosen representative of your culture? White man still doesn’t get it! Sad. Pathetic. Bless your heart Cuomo.
And all those statues of confederate soldiers supposedly memorialize ‘Southern Heritage’. What’s his point?
True. There was no Italy until 1861, Vespucci was technically Venetian. Cabot was a subject of the Kingdom of Naples, which shared monarch with the Kingdom of Aragon.
Amerigo Vespucci?
But he helped create the Bomb—so that makes him an enemy of civilization itself./s
A much better choice. A true anti-Fascist and a good choice for the current era. Leave Columbus to the history books.
Of course there would be opposition to Fermi from some circles due to the link to the bomb. Anyone serious about that, should at least read the full history about what was at stake (starting with “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes).
So, the legacy of Italian-Americans is slavery and genocide? Not exactly something to brag about.
And cities, including Pulaski TN—birthplace of the KKK.
So no statue for Cas, either.
Unforced self-own. Didn’t think the “America’s Governor” thing would last.
And that’s all fine, but we all should be quite careful of dissing any Dems currently in office, especially ones who take it to trump like Cuomo does. Just hold that shit in until we get clear of the present danger.
Democrats need to focus on healthcare, education, economic security, national security, and the importance of upholding the rule of law and the Constitution and not on all this culture-war jive like who has a statue where. Didn’t Bannon say something like “As long as they can’t talk about anything but race, we win”? He was completely right. At this point we’re headed to November with the Democrats branding themselves as the party that will defund the police and will extirpate all verbal and visual evidence of Columbus, Washington, and Jefferson. This amounts to delivering the election to the Trump on a platter.
Okay…