
Credit Bella Ciao Buffalo
For the group Bella Ciao Buffalo, the removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus from Columbus Park is a good first step. Emily Terrana says the first immigrants to the United States from Italy hailed Columbus as a hero, of sorts, because they "needed a person to grab onto to say 'we, too, are Americans.'" That attitude is shifting. "We don't have to be proud of Christopher Columbus any more." Terrana's group maintains there are others of Italian heritage more worthy of their pride than Columbus and his legacy as a colonizer who subjected natives to extreme violence and brutality.