Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t enthused at the idea of taking down statues of Christopher Columbus, saying the fight over historical monuments is better fought by erecting new ones.
It’s important to ask, “‘Why is there a statue of Christopher Columbus and not just one?’ Or, ‘Why don’t we honor the Lenape people of whom New York City originally belonged in the same or even similar proportion?’” the first-term New York Democrat told the Washington Examiner on Monday.
A statue of Columbus stands in New York City’s midtown Columbus Circle. It is currently under review as to whether it will be removed following a decision by a commission headed up by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray.
“For me, it’s less a question of statue up, statue down. It’s more a question of white supremacy. It’s when we only acknowledge and when we only have statues to white people. When we only have white saviors or when we only have white heroes. That is a culture of white supremacy. When there are 80 million statues of Christopher Columbus and very few in proportion to the Lenape people.”
“To me, what’s also very important is not just the statue, but also the plaque. And oftentimes those plaques and those explanations of who these people were and why there are statues erected in their names are a historical mystery,” Ocasio-Cortez noted, referencing Columbus’s 1492 arrival in the Caribbean during four separate voyages often being confused with setting foot in the present continental United States.
While Puerto Ricans who live in New York or other states around the country may be vocally critical of Columbus statues, Puerto Ricans who live in the U.S. commonwealth itself are less inclined to want to remove the statues of the famous Italian explorer who led an expedition to the New World on behalf of Queen Isabella of Spain.
[Read more: Republicans see Left alienating nation by toppling Roosevelt and Grant memorials]
Puerto Rico is home to a Columbus statue, erected in 2016, which stands at 350 feet, taller than the Statue of Liberty, the highest Columbus statue in the world, as well as one of Juan Ponce De Leon, Puerto Rico’s first governor.
When asked by the Washington Examiner if the reluctance to shun Columbus by Puerto Rican residents had more to do with the fact that they recognize they are as much descendants of Spaniards as they are of the indigenous (Taino) people and West Africans brought over as slaves Ocasio-Cortez responded:
“There is a fabulous essay that came out in the New York Times from people who said, ‘my body is a Confederate monument.’ And, frankly, when we talk about our Spanish heritage, we are the product of rape, of mass rape, as many other cultures and including African Americans here in the United States,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Just two weeks ago, de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo objected to the Columbus statue removal, or even renaming the circle in Manhattan that the statue presently occupies.
“I think what’s important is that we come to these decisions together as a movement and as a city. But the fact of the matter remains is that we have to understand why people want to be taking these statues down at this time, especially when you look at New York City in particular, which was a particular site of indigenous displacement, genocide,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think we need to have a conversation about closure.”
