A Chicago politician is thinking twice about renaming Columbus Drive for Barack Obama after outraged Italian-Americans questioned why the former president should be honored “at the expense of one ethnic group.”
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans had blasted the proposed rebranding as “offensive” last week, with president Ron Onesti describing it as “insensitive and unvetted.”
Onesti had questioned “why must it be at the expense of one ethnic group, and why take such a noble effort and attach it to an action offensive to the over 500,000 Americans of Italian descent in and around Chicago,” according to The Hill.
Ward 4 Chicago city councilmember Alderman Lamont Robinson is now considering alternatives, a spokesperson told The Post.
The Aalderman had written on X March 20 he sponsored the ordinance to “honor more Black men” and promote tourism.
“Chicago’s children deserve to see that they too can become Black history & cement a new tourist destination to increase Chicago tourism highlighting where Black history was made,” read Robinson’s post.
But after the backlash Robinson and Onesti met over the weekend, the spokesperson said.
“They’re still talking about it so no one feels like their group is being ethnically discriminated against,” the spokesperson said. “Nothing is set in stone right now.”
In a press release after the meeting Onseti said Robinson was “sensitive” to the concerns of the Italian-American organization.
“Alderman seemed genuinely concerned about finding a way to honor the 44th President in a fashion that all communities would get behind,” Onseti’s statement read.
Columbus Drive runs north to south for 2.21 miles and divides Grant Park.
Robinson’s office said the name change was more about honoring Obama’s history than removing Christopher Columbus.
“It’s not because of the controversy around him, Barack Obama had a historic victory speech at Grant Park, it’s steps away from Columbus,” the spokesperson said.
