This Christopher Columbus statue in Cleveland, OH may get a yummy replacement.

All around the nation we've seen the removal of flags and monuments that represent a history of racism.  The residents of Cleveland, Ohio have been speaking out for some time on this subject.  Many are demanding the removal of statues like the one picture above of Christopher Columbus in Little Italy in front of Tony Brush Park.

A petition was recently created at change.org to replace the Christopher Columbus statue with one of Chef Boyardee.  The petition explains why Chef Boyardee of all people,

If Italian-Americans in Cleveland want to celebrate one of their own, they need look no further than the iconic Ettore (Hector) Boiardi, AKA Chef Boyardee. Born in Piacenza, Ettore immigrated to the U.S. at age 16 in 1914. He eventually moved to Cleveland, where he opened a restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, that was so popular people asked him to bottle his sauce for them.

The Columbus statue that is the subject of this petition has been in Cleveland since 1988.  Removing the statue of what the petition calls "a racist monster who initiated the genocide against indigenous Americans" is completely understandable.  But when Italian-Americans think of their food and heritage, is Chef Boyardee really what they think of?  Don't get me wrong.  I'll eat Chili Mac and Beefaroni every dang day.

As of 6:23 A.M. on Monday, June 29th this petition has 2,293 signatures.  That's a lot of people.  However, that's nothing compared to the petition to change the name of Columbus, Ohio to Flavortown, Ohio with over 113,000 signatures.

All of this talk about Ohio is getting me hungry.

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