The nationwide movement by protesters to tear down statues of Christopher Columbus is misguided and flat-out wrong, according to Italian-American leaders, who said demonstrators should not lump in the explorer with other targets of their wrath in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“We will fight this tooth and nail,” said Carlo Scissura, chairman of the Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Brooklyn. “Christopher Columbus represents part of Italian-Americans’ national pride. He is part of the success story of Italian-Americans.”