Illinois Democrats Lost Their Appetite for Columbus: Until He Was Served with Provolone
By Salvatore Camarda
April 10th, 2026
You really have to see it to believe it.
The same Illinois Democrat political class and “community leaders” who stood by while Columbus statues were ripped from their pedestals have finally found the courage to bring him back.
Not to Grant Park.
Not to Arrigo Park.
Not anywhere the public might actually see him and remember what he represents.
Nope… they brought him back in the safest place imaginable: a catered event in Springfield, hosted by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA), where a small Columbus statue sat comfortably in the middle of an antipasto spread.
Right there… Between the mortadella and the provolone. Because apparently, that’s what Italian American heritage is now: a garnish.
At their Springfield event for the Illinois Italian Caucus, these self-appointed “leaders” proudly displayed a small Columbus statue as part of their buffet spread while hordes of Democrat politicians stuffed their faces with salami, cheese and crackers.
Because nothing says dignity quite like turning a foundational symbol of Italian American identity into a centerpiece for a cold cut spread.
And honestly, if I had known that the Democrat political class in this state would have let us keep our Columbus statues, as long as they were surrounded by cured meats, I would have gladly donated the cold cuts myself.
We could’ve saved years of fights, lawsuits, and public humiliation. Forget making arguments about history, identity, and the contributions of Italian Americans. Forget asking elected officials to show even a shred of backbone.
All we needed was a decent deli tray. That’s the level of seriousness we’re dealing with.
It’s almost performance art. If the goal was to show just how far the bar has fallen, mission accomplished.
When the real statues were under siege, when they were being torn down and hidden away under the cover of “safety,” these same people were nowhere to be found. No outrage. No pressure. No backbone.
But now? Now that there’s zero risk involved? Now that it’s all symbolic and safely tucked inside a catered political event?
Now they’re brave enough to put Columbus back on display… as long as he’s standing next to a tray of antipasto.
Because defending your heritage in public is controversial. But joking about it over lunch? That’s bipartisan.
Let’s be honest about what this is. This isn’t just hypocrisy… it’s humiliation.
They took something that generations of Italian Americans fought to be proud of, something that helped a once-marginalized community carve out a place in this country, and they reduced it to a prop. A joke. A conversation starter between bites of capicola.
And then they wonder why nobody takes them seriously.
Because this is what unserious leadership looks like. It’s not just that they failed to defend the statues, it’s that they’ve now rebranded that failure as sophistication. As if shrinking your own heritage down to something harmless and decorative is a sign of growth.
It’s not. It’s surrender with a side of olives.
And the message they’re sending couldn’t be clearer if they tried:
We won’t fight for you in public.
We won’t stand up when it matters.
But we’ll absolutely celebrate a miniature version of your history as long as it fits neatly between the salami and the cheese tray.
If that sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is.
But it’s also something worse. It’s how a community gets turned into a punchline.
Because when your so-called leaders are more comfortable trivializing your history than defending it, they’re not preserving your identity… they’re parodying it.
They’re telling the world that Italian American heritage isn’t something to be respected. It’s something to be plated.
And if the only version of Columbus they’re willing to tolerate is one that comes with toothpicks and a catering bill, then maybe the problem was never Columbus at all.
Maybe it’s the people who decided that the safest way to lead is to make sure nobody ever has to take them seriously again.
So yes, enjoy your antipasto diplomacy. Raise a glass. Celebrate your tiny, sanitized Columbus. Just don’t pretend it means anything.
Because if the only place you’re willing to stand with your own history is next to a tray of cold cuts, then you didn’t preserve it. You sold it.
And at some point, that kind of leadership has to be called what it is: exhausted, ineffective, and completely out of step with the people it claims to represent. If this is the best they can offer, then it’s time for something new.
Time for leaders who don’t shrink from a fight, who don’t barter away heritage for comfort, and who understand that representing a community actually means standing up for it when it counts. Until that happens, nothing changes except how much more of our history gets reduced to a garnish.
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Salvatore Camarda is a recently retired tech executive, entrepreneur and public speaker with a lifelong commitment to community. Growing up immersed in the Italian American experience, he was inspired by his father, a respected leader in the community for decades. Camarda brings a perspective shaped by both business acumen and a deep-rooted appreciation for service, culture, and civic engagement.
Comments 31
Thank you for words Sal.
More importantly, where and how are you Kasso. You have been mia from the both the column and the podcast. We will continue to pray for your health and well fare. I enjoy the bench, but they are nothing like the all star.
Well said sir. You are right on target with our Combine Buffoons in Springfield.
THEIR Columbus didn’t discover the New World. His icon discovered their safe space- the actual antithesis of Columbus the explorer.
AI Overview
While historically accepted as Genoese (Italian), theories exist suggesting Christopher Columbus could have been Greek, specifically from the island of Chios. Supporters point to his potential Byzantine (Paleologos) ancestry, use of Latin/Greek in journals, and ties to Greek-named, Genoese-ruled areas. However, mainstream historians maintain he was born in Genoa.
GreeceTravel.com
I appreciate your care for community.
Thank you for this writing.
Wow – just wow. Thank you for writing about this. Everything you said is true – such cowardice in the leadership of the Italian American organizations here. Negotiating away our history is something no other ethnic group’s representatives would have done. I will be sharing this article with family and friends!
Right on the money, and I’m not Italian, but will never forget the goo goo nation attacking the cops who were protecting the Columbus stature in Grant Park! Fight back! Always! Mayor Johnson, put back the Columbus statue and all other Statues removed because of left wing zealots and screwballs.
Yes sir! And to zealots and screwballs, I’ll also add idiots, if they really believe they can understand and judge an individual that lived over 500 years ago, long before any sort of organized news gathering existed. The printing press was still in its infancy!
Please provide us some names of the Italian-American politicians who attended or set p this event.
Stunods!
The sad fact of our era is that we don’t appreciate and respect history. Yes, Robert E. Lee was on the wrong side of history, but he was a military genius. When his statues are removed, that is lost.
Which is why there is so much historical re – writing today, at a rate which Orwell predicted. And not just from the Left. I could never have imagined that a once important public figure would label Winston Churchill as a 20th century bad guy. Horseshoe political craziness.
John Kass has a great stable of support writers to keep the subscription going. Hope his health improves.
If the “once important public figure” you’re referring to is Tucker Carlson, he’s graduated to defending Putin and spewing propaganda for the Mullahs, so he’s kind of an outlier.
Yeah. He has 5.55 million YouTube subscribers, but I don’t think his true influence amounts too much, because a YouTube subscription costs nothing. I have 10 YouTube subscriptions, (all except VDH are non political), but I watch only a small fraction of those videos. Let’s hope he is nothing more than a sideshow, distraction, and annoyance.
A John Kass subscription, $50/year, is worth every penny. Partly for the comments!
Robert E Lee was a traitor to his country. Why would you celebrate that with a statue??
How is that you, Tony Cesare, is back? Your lying aliases don’t fool us: Riga- Tony. You added a space. It won’t work.
You are an identity thief. You claimed to own Tony’s Tap in Wisconsin. You are a liar. I called Tony’s Tap and spoke to the actual Tony and someone on his staff. They have never heard of you.
You trolled my dying daughter’s GoFundMe account.
I will work tirelessly to see that you are banned again.
Your ancient postings in the Downers Grove Patch are shameful. A fourth grader could do better. Your line
about the cheap aluminum key is hilarious.
Stay tuned. I will repost here the images of your Facebook posts that expose your identity theft
Missed you as well Dave. (:
This is delicious. You slithered back out and under an alias. You are too cowardly to use your real name.
We will be certain to drive you back under your rock.
https://www.gardendesignquickstartguide.com/2022/09/come-for-our-durp-burger.html
Columbus should be honored by all Americans.
Only the evil, the ignorant and willfully stupid think otherwise.
Italian Americans are the honor of this nation.
Disagree? Hop up and smooch my fat, wrinkled Irish ass.
Speaking of Chicago/Ill statue madness, it continues on the lake front just north of Diversey. There, a “modern” statue of an inner city teen with a boom box on one shoulder, standing on top of a horse, was clumsily inserted in front of the “A Signal of Peace” statue by Cyrus Edwin Dallin. It turned a place with a classic statue which is well integrated into its surroundings into an in your face eyesore. But it delivers a political message.
A political message I find quite similar to the CTU planning to walk off the job to celebrate May Day and, in the process, not just abandoning a day of education for our children but actively indoctrinating them in CTU politics and working make the children march with them in support of the CTU’s political objectives. Some (not all) teachers are speaking in their classes about preparing for it. Yes, it’s that bad. In their own words: https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/may-day-heres-the-plan/
Thanks Salvatore Camarda for this excellent John Kass column. My grandfather lived on the Near West Side at Harrison St and Oakley Blvd. Some of his brothers grew up in Italy, but the Del Principe men were 100 % American.
They ran a music store, and paid lots of taxes to Chicago City Hall. Of course there were plenty of greedy aldermen and building inspectors with hands in the cash register. So when the old neighborhood was bulldozed for Daley’s medical center, they helped build the western suburbs.
The 2020 demolition of Columbus statues was a sinister event because 49 Chicago police were injured. 18 were hospitalized Corporate media chose to ignore the violence in favor of a bizarre new mythology that statues are evil spirits, to be replaced in culture by overpaid celebrities who kneel during the National Anthem.
The most powerful Italian-American in Congress knelt down in homage to the new mythology, while garbed in absurd neo-religious robes as if she was in church.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasn’t alone. Her stooges in Illinois also knelt. And they cursed the Columbus statues, while claiming the demolition was in fact “preservation.” Cowardly lies, masquerading as truth.
Anything torn down is demolition, but 6 years later the D-word is taboo. We must all pretend the Columbus statues are well-maintained, just like we must sing the praises of the lakefront monstrosity glorifying Barack Obama.
When that museum opens, Pelosi will enjoy the spotlights. She’ll be smiling for TV cameras while hugging Barack.
Pelosi doesn’t care about Christopher Columbus. She knows Italian-American voters walked away from her party many years ago.
Fuhgeddabout it! “MIWG2SLGBTQQIA+” Damn it.
One doesn’t need to be of Italian heritage to appreciate Columbus. I fully support returning the Columbus statues to their public locations. Is there any sort of organized effort to do so, or is that too much of a third rail issue for our castrated politicians?
Even in Chicago, there have got to be enough common sense people left who won’t bend the knee to Antifa…..anyone?……anyone?
As Dan Akroyd said to Jane Curtin on SNL ‘news cast’: ‘Jane you ignorant slut……’
It has been well documented that Columbus committed numerous acts of violence, enslavement, and severe cruelty against indigenous Taino people and Spanish colonists during his time governor of what is now Haiti and Dominican Republic. New well proven legitimate research, including reports and letters from his own men document a pattern of brutality that led to his arrest and removal from power in 1500.
His actions and crimes included:
1. Mass enslavement and trafficking.
2. Mutilation and murder.
3. Sexual slavery and rape.
4. Forced labor.
5. Cruelty to Spanish settlers!!!!
6. Genocide of the Hispaniola peoples. That population dropped from hundreds of thousands in 1492 to only a few hundred by 1548.
Columbus was arrested in 1500 by the royal Commissioner for his mismanagement and brutal rule, but was later pardoned by the Spanish crown. Hmmmm doesn’t that sound familiar?
I think his statue amongst deli items was too good a position for him.
Whats next Sal? An article on what a great leader and statesman Mussolini was?
Well Thomas to paraphrase Dan Akroyd on SNL: “Thomas, you gasbagging ignorant fukhead … ”
I love your presentism idiocy.
Fact: Slavery has – or was the NORM – for the vast majority of human history.
Fact: The intra-African slave trade dwarfed the “new world” slave trade.
But let’s take your logic a step further. Washington, Jefferson and the father of our Constitution, James Madison were all slave holders. So let’s get rid of the Washington and Jefferson monument. Right? And Madison? Yes, we will no longer consider his political insights. The Federal Papers? You mean the greatest political tract in modern history? Who cares. Right? Cancel. Done. Here’s another idea. Let’s get rid of the US Constitution. Afterall, it was authored by multiple slave holders and one – James Madison – in particular.
Ah yes. Those poor innocent native Americans singing kumbaya of which you refer. The Aztec were sacrificing humans by preforming early cardiac surgery without anesthesia: extracting their hearts. And on special occasions infants were served up to the Gods. And later in the American West, the Comanche were raping, slaughtering and dismembering their fellow native Americans. Earth to Thomas: NO one – do you understand you idiot – was singing Kumbaya in those days.
Columbus represents man’s desire to seek the unknown. We recently have seen that legacy in the success of Artemis. He represented the “can do” spirit – the “entrepreneurial spirit – which is a signature of our country. Finally he is a symbol of one of our proudest and most successful group of immigrants: Italian Americans whose enormous contributions to our country – culturally, athletically and scientifically – we as a country should rightfully celebrate rather than denigrate.
I gotta say. For you to denigrate Columbus as our idiot wokesters in Chicago have done – is truly disgraceful. I do not have an Italian heritage. But I am deeply offended by your stupidity, idiocy, and ignorance. You, sir, should really should be ashamed of yourself. You are the operative definition of a useful idiot.
Thanks Doctor, one of the best replies I’ve ever seen on this site!
Sounds like the usual bullshit leftist revisionist history.
Columbus wasn’t removed because of excesses towards the locals. The Conquistadors that followed him were much worse. He was removed because he wasn’t of noble blood and the Hidalgos didn’t like him. They couldn’t start committing a true pillaging of the New World with him in the way.
Most Indians were killed by their lack of resistance to western disease. Not knowing modern germ theory doesn’t make you a genocidal killer.
What Columbus DID do was start the first true global economy, where China got “Spanish” gold in exchange for silks which were sold to Europeans.
Read 1493 by Charles Mann instead of any crap by Howard Zinn.
PS
1. the original Americans came from Asia 15,000 years ago, ie later called the American ‘Indian’.
2. 1000 AD Leif Erickson landed in Newfoundland.
Chris was a distant 3rd discoverer.
So sorry.
And HE was the one responsible for the global economy.
So sorry.
Thank you for this article
Unfortunately, these politicians are taken very seriously by the majority of voters in this city and state
I hope when I come back to visit the city, a statue of Columbus will be found somewhere in a park
We need to stand our ground on this and many issues of cultural preservation. Meanwhile the lefties are memory holing enormous parts of who we are as the American melting pot.
I can think of a half dozen great Italian Americans (including my Dad and a few Uncles..) whom I would celebrate before Columbus. How about Enrico Fermi?? John Basilone? Heck, Lady Gaga. I’m far more “offended” by the dated but persuasive cliche of the Italian American as a gangster. I don’t ever recall my family celebrating Columbus Day. Now, Saint Joseph, THAT we celebrated. Pasta con le Sarde, the best.