Update June 30th, 2020: Thank You for 1300 & Community Outreach

Hello Everybody, I hope you are healthy and well.

Thank You For Signing & Sharing. We are now over  1300 signatures!!!

Updates 6.30.20:

• We have still not received a direct response from the Mayor on this matter.
• Counter Petition
  
  • A counter-petition has been created to showcase the support for the statue it is called "Keep the Columbus Statue on the grounds of Waterbury City Hall!"
  •  I find that it is better to respect this peaceful expression of opinion and I urge the Mayor to make these matters more formal. 
  • We are GRASSROOTS, We are LOCAL
• Community Out Reach
  • I and another Waterbury resident took it upon ourselves to reach out to the Italian community. The resident had a private conversation with the creator of the petition. They expressed that the Italian community is concerned about removal.
  • Following this, some of the organizers appeared on a radio show in which our side was not expressed and I believe it was misrepresented.
  • The letter's text is at the bottom of this post. We made it clear that this was not expressing the voices of anyone else but our individual selves. 
  • Once again this petition calls for the statue to be put in a safe and educational environment. It does not call for the destruction of the statue.

Action Items

• Your feedback is always valuable please reach out to provide it. You can comment under updates, these comments are checked regularly and taken seriously.
• Please continue to call the Mayor's office (203)-574-6712 to share your unique perspective. 
  
  • A phone & email script will be available soon.
• Continue to contact the media and ask them to report on this effort. Feel free to share your own perspective as well. 
  • Rep-Am Newsroom: 203-574-3636 ext. 1400   communitynews@rep-am.com
  • WTNH-8 Waterbury Newsroom: 203-627-5911
  • WFSB 3 (Eyewitness News)  860-728-3333 or  - 860-2441700 newsdesk3@wfsb.com

Let Us Keep This Momentum! 

Let us get to 1500!

Sincerely,

F

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TEXT OF LETTER  (Note: As petition manager, I will be as transparent as possible but have removed mention of individual and organization names and replaced them with ***)

"June 30th, 2020

To: ***, ***, and Concerned Italian Waterburians

From: *** (Petition Manager) and *** (Waterbury Resident)

We hope you and yours are well. As fellow community members, we wish for everyone's safety and health in this pandemic. As Waterbury residents and organizers of the petition calling for the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue, we are reaching out with respect and compassion. It has come to our attention, through a conversation with ***, that many Italians feel disregarded in conversation. For this reason, we feel the need to personally address all those concerns.

To begin, by no means do we lack an understanding of the contributions that Italian Americans have made to this great city. We understand that Italian Americans fled persecution to come reside in Waterbury. Now many others, from all over the globe, call Waterbury home.

Secondly, we want to clarify that the petition does not call for the destruction of the Columbus statue. This needs to be made clear to Italian community members, the Mayor's office, and signers of our petition. In fact, the petition has publicly asked us to refrain from this action. The petition calls for, 'The relocation of the statue to a museum where the statue can be acknowledged as a time capsule in recognition of the rich history of Italian Americans.' Additionally, an update on the petition page states, 'It was made clear that this petition (and myself as its organizer) do NOT condone vandalism of the statue but safe removal in order to respect the Italian Waterburians who erected it.' Though we may have different ends, hopefully, this assurance allows us to move forward in conversation.

Waterbury can only progress through unity in these turbulent times. Multiculturalism is what makes our city special. We need to acknowledge and honor all heritages, histories, and people appropriately. The times we are living in have led many people to educate themselves on beliefs that may have been previously perceived as unproblematic. As organizers and signers of this petition, it is often the case that we are dismissed as individuals who start problems where none exist. Thus, we are taking the first step forward in the hope that an open dialogue will foster understanding and change.

We thank you for your time and hope that the above clarifies any misconceptions. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Let us move forward in creating a community-driven by the desire for appropriate racial and ethnic inclusivity. 

                                               Sincerely, 

***, Petition Manager      &   *** ,  Waterbury Resident

Note: This message is not on behalf of all petitioners and voices. It is from the petition manager ***and Waterbury Resident ***. The philosophy behind the petition includes an emphasis on transparency, thus this letter will be made public."