Task force recommends permanent removal of Christopher Columbus statues, other Chicago monuments
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More than two years after Mayor Lori Lightfoot tasked a commission with reviewing more than 500 public monuments in Chicago as part of a "a racial healing and historical reckoning project," that panel has released a report recommending more than 40 sculptures and plaques be taken down or modified.
Among the recommendations, the panel said three statues of Christopher Columbus that were taken down in 2020 should not return to their perches in Grant Park, Little Italy, and South Chicago.
Lightfoot ordered those statues removed after protesters tried to tear down the Columbus statue in Grant Park in July 2020, leading to violent clashes between protesters and police.
Those statues have since been in storage, and the Chicago Monuments Project committee formed by Lightfoot says that's where they should stay.
The panel recommended dozens more monuments be removed or modified, including three sculptures on the DuSable Bridge over the Chicago River. The sculptures depict the Battle of Fort Dearborn, and the report says the images show Native Americans as "merely a foil to help define the heroic acts and qualities of colonizing forces."
The Bowman and The Spearman statues on Columbus Circle and Ida B. Wells Drive are also recommended to go. The report says they present "stylized and unrealistic images of American Indians."
The report also recommends doing away with a number of plaques, including one on Michigan Avenue near Randolph Street, honoring John Kinzie and Jean Baptiste Beaubien as the city's first and second civilians. The report says those plaques prioritize "whiteness and denies the existence of Native peoples, and earlier settler Jean Baptiste Point du Sable."
The city will give $50,000 in grants to help create several new monuments around the city, including one for gun violence victims.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot would not say if she agrees with any of the panel's recommendations.
"The release of the final report from the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee marks an important milestone in our city-wide journey in addressing our past so that we can move forward together toward a more equitable and inclusive future.
I thank the members of the committee for their time, and commitment to this important work on behalf of our City, the extensive and creative public engagement and their willingness to engage in this work in a thorough and thoughtful way.
While the scope of this work impacts us all, I want to particularly highlight and thank members of the Italian American and the Native communities for their engagement and participation in this process. I have personally learned a lot from my engagement with members of both communities.
What is clear is the history of both communities is intrinsic to our shared Chicago history and the stories of both communities in all of the nuances needs to be told, known and respected by every Chicagoan. We need to create more opportunities for bridge building which will be to the benefit of us all.
There are many more steps that will be taken on this long journey toward reckoning, understanding, and healing and I look forward to more dialogue, public engagement and the path forward."
Some members of the Italian American community who have been outspoken about the removal of the Columbus statues, and want them returned to their original posts, say they will speak about the report on Saturday.
