Former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino to rescue vandalized Christopher Columbus statue

I commend former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino for his heartfelt respect for the Italo-American tradition in Rhode Island and in the United States. This WOKE nihilistic war on historic statues and monuments is the very opposite of the FREE SPEECH , FREE THOUGHT tradition of Western Civilization. ALL historic statues should be SAFE in the state founded by Roger Williams. My grandparents Ruggieri also came from some obscure small town in Southern Italy at the beginning of the 20th century . They lived for some 50 years at 62 Gesler St on Federal Hiil, Providence, Rhode Island. My older brother and I were baptized at Holy Ghost Church. True , most of those Italo-American Federal Hill families migrated to Johnston , RI . My brother Steve and his family now live there. The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus was a major turning point in world history. Columbus - good , bad , or both - was a brilliant and courageous navigator. Like other ethnic groups Italo-Americans respect and admire people who are good at what they do ( " This is the profession we have chosen " ) . In still mostly Catholic Italy today nobody is vandalizing statues of Julius Caesar or even Nero ! But there are numerous reports of Catholic Churches being vandalized by WOKE maniacs today in the year 2023. This is as much a disgrace as Jewish synagogues and cemeteries being terrorized and vandalized. Before HATE can be preached away UNDERSTANDING must come first .