In a powerfully worded order filed Friday, an Allegheny County judge asked the two sides fighting over the removal of the Columbus statue at Schenley Park to try to reach consensus.
“Open mindedness as a community requires that we listen to each other and weigh the concerns expressed collectively with the sincere intent of trying to understand all sides of an issue,” wrote Judge John T. McVay Jr. “While acknowledging that historical figures are people and necessarily come with heroic qualities along with character flaws, nonetheless, racism, slavery and prejudice must always be condemned and rejected by our city.
“I am asking that we strive to reach a consensus in good faith. It is my belief that through conciliation, Pittsburgh will lead the nation on this issue of statue removal vis-a-vis history and evolving community historical understanding.”
The controversy began in the summer, as similar scenes unfolded across the country, when the city was petitioned to remove the 13-foot tall statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park.
Those advocating for its removal told the Pittsburgh Art Commission that Columbus’ legacy is one of mistreating Native Americans.
However, some in Pittsburgh’s Italian-American population became angry at the suggestion of removing the statue, calling him a hero.
On Oct. 9 the same day Mayor Bill Peduto endorsed removing the statue, the Italian Sons and Daughters of America filed a lawsuit against the city to try to block it. In the complaint, they argued removing the statue is a violation of the law, since it was erected under a special ordinance created for that purpose in 1955.
McVay issued an order at the time for the city to leave the statue in place, and it has been wrapped in plastic since then to prevent vandalism.
On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Art Commission voted 4-1 to remove the statue.
In his two-page memorandum and order, McVay wrote that “History is often said to be written by the ‘winners,’ and our understanding of it as a nation tends to evolve over time as research reveals new understandings, and our cultural norms change.”
He referenced the removal of monuments across the United States that celebrated Confederate and Union generals, as well as cultural icons, like composer Stephen Foster, in Pittsburgh.
McVay noted in his filing that his father was a high school history teacher. He said his father taught him that commissioning statues of Confederate generals in the South in the Jim Crow era were “often intended as symbols of white supremacy.”
However, he wrote, when the federal government named battleships and military bases commemorating the Confederacy, it was with the intent to heal the nation.
McVay wrote that discrimination continues to exist, and it should not “be acceptable to a community striving for better.”
There should be common ground, he said, “that reflects Pittsburgh and its pride in being a diverse and welcoming community.”
He ordered the parties to meet and discuss a resolution of the case. If they fail, he said, he would conduct a conciliation.
There is a status conference on the case scheduled for Nov. 20.
Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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https://triblive.com/local/judge-asks-sides-to-work-our-dispute-on-columbus-statue-in-schenley-park/
2020-10-30 17:51:50Z
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