Editor’s note: This guest essay uses a composite first-person voice inspired by Christopher Columbus monuments removed from public display and placed in storage in several U.S. cities, including Columbus, Ohio; Chicago; and San Francisco. The narrator is not intended to represent one specific statue in every detail.
What happened to me? I stand alone in the corner of a cold warehouse. The inscribed plinth that I once proudly stood upon is gone. My sculptured body is covered with cobwebs that no one bothers to remove.
For decades, visitors would gather around and look up to me. To them I was a hero. They took photographs of me from all angles. Many stared at me in adulation of the feats I had performed in days long gone. My visage and attire were frozen in time to capture the essence of my professional prowess. I observed visitors from all over the world reading the words etched into plaques mounted below me. The inscriptions extolled accomplishments that had led to monuments crowned with my sculptural embodiment.
In the years before my removal, crowds began to appear before me that were decidedly hostile. They directed their anger at me with chants and demonstrations. I was defaced with graffiti and other vandalism; at one monument, the base carried an explicit accusation against Columbus.
Soon thereafter, I met my destiny. Workers arrived, and I was unceremoniously removed from my pedestal. A crane hoisted me into the air, and I was transported away from public view and into storage.
Since my arrival here, other statues across the country have joined me in seclusion. The debate over us continues. I don’t understand what caused the change in public opinion that made me such a pariah.
So, here I remain forlorn and forsaken in this gloomy room. Perhaps, a more appreciative and perceptive public will redeem me from my solitude and allow me to see daylight once again. Until then, remember me for what I accomplished in my own time. If judged through the lens of a future generation, no statue may be safe from the fate that has befallen me.
About the author: Lawrence Venturato has authored numerous literary works of public interest.
Prior publication note: An earlier version of this essay appeared as “The Cry of a Stone Cold Hero” on Investment Watch Blog.
