Columbus Statue Decision is a Victory For All

“It is baffling to the Court that the City of Philadelphia wants to remove the Statue without any legal basis. The City’s entire argument is devoid of any legal foundation.”

And that was the nice part. The decision is both precise and brutal, ticking off the flawed reasoning, mediocre lawyering and dishonest motivations of the city in trying to punish Italian Americans for being proud of their heritage. The decision is a complete and total victory for not just Italian Americans, not just the people of South Philly, but for every person who believes in the integrity of the legal system and the respect that we need to show everyone, not just those demographics that whine the loudest about oppression.

Of course, there are people who are particularly displeased with the decision. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story discussing the legal victory, and then took a completely irrelevant and borderline defamatory pot shot at Judge Patrick, trying to connect her to QAnon conspiracies. This African-American female judge, who made the mistake of registering as a Republican, is smeared by innuendo by the same organization that smeared the good people of South Philly who defended the statue.

But that doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things. What does matter is that a devoted group of people with the will to take a stand for their beliefs, their heritage and their history won a victory on a battlefield otherwise strewn with the road kill of political correctness.

The baristas of Philadelphia will need to find another windmill to swing at. Columbus is there to stay.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.