Across the country people are debating the removal of historic statues, and there's an active conversation happening in Massachusetts. 

The statue of Christopher Columbus outside of Worcester's Union Station was recently vandalized, and City Councilor Sarai Rivera is calling for its removal. The founder of the Worcester Black History Project says it's a good time to be having discussions about the history of the statues and how they could represent different things for different people. Debbie Hall says removing a statue doesn’t erase the person’s history, it just removes the person's representation in a city.

"On the surface it's not about and more deeply not about history. It really isn't because history… I didn't learn about from a statue, I don't know about you. You go and see these symbols and they're wonderful pieces of art sometimes but I didn't learn about history and that won't be taken away if there is a removal of a statue or monument. We still learn history and we can read and learn about it in different places" says Hall.

City Manager Ed Augustus said recently he would like to have conversations about the future of some of the city's historical monuments and statues. ​