Art History Professor Rebecca Zorach discusses the impact of controversial statues on recent podcast

During the summer of 2020, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot removed a statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park due to protests in the area. This was met with controversy, and led to debates about monuments of historical figures and their significance. 

However, after almost two years, Mayor Lightfoot recently announced that the statue could return to its original position, reigniting conversations about monuments and their effects on the public. As part of this dialogue, Northwestern professor Rebecca Zorach appeared on the Reset podcast with reporter Sasha Ann Simons to discuss the impact of Lightfoot’s decision and the possible motivation behind it. 

“I think it’s one hundred percent about politics,” said Zorach. “Mayor Lightfoot is running for re-election and she is trying to deal with a number of different constituencies. I would be very surprised if [the statue] did return, but I think she’s trying to signal something to a certain segment of her constituency.”

Listen to the podcast in WBEZ’s article, “Mayor Lightfoot says Columbus statue could return to Grant Park.”