After reading the commentary by Philip Arnold’s and Sandy Bigtree in Sunday’s Post-Standard (“Embrace democratic values. Remove iconic fascist memorials”) , we would like to respectfully respond. From Syracuse’s Columbus’s Monument unveiling in October 1934, we have had 86 wreath ceremonies and countless luncheons celebrating the Columbus Monument in Columbus Circle.

Those celebrations are meant to honor a magnificent mariner from Genoa, Italy, whose four voyages to this Western Hemisphere opened up a hemisphere never written about or thoroughly explored before by and for Western Civilization. He is Christopher Columbus. But, also, and vastly important, is the symbolism of the Columbus Monument in Syracuse.