As the widespread conversation about police brutality and racial inequality continues for another week, Columbus statues are demolished across the country to publicize the cruelty it brought to indigenous peoples.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced earlier this week that the statue outside City Hall would be removed and stored.
But for Tyler Woodbridge, who spent more than seven years of his life in Columbus, the removal of the statue was not enough.
“Although it’s my favorite city, I was always a little embarrassed by the name,” Woodbridge told CNN.
“That kind of optimism and charity work embodies more than what Columbus, Ohio is all about, rather than Christopher Columbus’ tarnished legacy,” Woodbridge said.
But the fact that Flavortown came from Fieri is an advantage and not the main reason he is pushing for the name, Woodbridge said. Describing the city as a “melting pot” of different cultures and nationalities, Woodbridge said the name would honor the city’s “proud heritage as a culinary crossroads and one of the nation’s largest test markets for the industry,” according to the petition. food “.
Woodbridge, who currently lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, said he plans to drive back to his hometown soon to deliver the printed petition to city officials.
Others have proposed changing the name of the city after an indigenous figure, who Woodbridge says he supports. All he really wants is for the city to no longer have the name of Columbus.
“We as a culture in America are realizing how bad a person he was,” Woodbridge said. “Now is the time for progressivity. It is a time for change.”
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