Dozens of protesters gathered in the shadow of a pillar engraved with words from Mussolini. It is a gift honoring Italo Balbo, which the dictator gave to Chicago in 1933.
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"Chicago stands with all the communities around the country, to stay monuments have to go, especially when they represent a racist history of America," said Bishop Gregg Greer, who was protesting the Balbo monument.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was testy earlier Wednesday when a reporter asked him about the Balbo monument.
"You don't have to ask me what my position is on fascism. I'm against fascism, Ed. Take a chill pill will ya," he said.
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"This is fascism. It's racism. And if he means it, if he understands fascism then he should take the monument down," said John Beacham, ANSWER Coalition.
But some Chicago Italian-Americans believe Balbo is misunderstood.
"When Mussolini went pro-Nazi, Balbo said absolutely no way," said Lissa Druss, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. "Balbo is a hero to the Italian American community and also the aviation community. There is no reason why this should even be part of a discussion, he was anti-Nazi."