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* From the Sun-Times back in August of 2021…
A year after the Christopher Columbus statue in Arrigo Park was yanked down amid mounting protests, hundreds rallied at the same spot in the heart of Little Italy last month to demand the city restore that monument to the explorer and two others.
Billed as Italian Unity Day, the July 25 event included many with deep ties to the neighborhood. But it was also filled with members of a controversial western chauvinist group with a long track record of sowing division: the Proud Boys. […]
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans planned the event in Arrigo Park last month on the one-year anniversary of the statues’ removal.
Ron Onesti, the group’s president, said the fight to bring back the Little Italy monument had become a multi-ethnic effort over the past year, and that every culture was welcomed to attend the event. […]
“I am unfamiliar with the [Proud Boys] group. I do not support violence, destruction, racism, bigotry or disrespect of any kind,” he said.
Would he have asked the groups to leave the rally if he knew they had ties to the Capitol insurrection?
“It’s not my place to ask anyone to leave,” he said.
* Today in the Daily Herald…
The CEO of the company that operates the Des Plaines Theatre defended leasing the city-owned venue to a group that’s been criticized for making queerphobic social media posts and other controversial statements.
Describing himself as a proponent of the First Amendment, Ron Onesti of Onesti Entertainment Corp. on Wednesday said Naperville-based Awake Illinois has the right to hold meetings and discuss the issues it pleases. Despite the controversy, Onesti said he won’t cancel the event.
“It’s not for me to be judge and jury,” Onesti said. […]
Onesti Entertainment has a five-year deal with Des Plaines to operate the theater, which the city purchased in 2018 and spent millions to renovate.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:02 pm
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I don’t think “There’s good people on both sides” is gonna work here, Ron. But you do you, pal.
Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:15 pm
Reminder that Columbus did very little that was attributed to him, Howard Zinn was a populist fraud (and was fired for sexually preying on students), and honestly the indigenous people at the time were what we would call human rights violators today if we were honest (but we’re not).
https://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?id=1486
Comment by DC Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:15 pm
I see Awake has upped their game, and is following the Fred Phelps model of purposely putting themselves into situations where they can finance themselves through lawsuits.
After getting bumped out of a few private venues, they have chosen a public facility this time.
As terrible as it is, the best approach is to ignore them going forward from here. Engagement is what they desperately want. There is no *best* outcome in engaging with them any longer, there will only be less worse outcomes.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:19 pm
Hey Ron: When it comes to being the public face of the Italian American community, it is your job to be judge and jury. Especially when you associate with the very kinds of groups which were tormenting Italian immigrants to this country not too many generations ago. They need to go and you need to be leaving right behind them. If JCCIA wants to retain any credibility, it should be moving to immediately remove you.
Comment by Southside Markie Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:20 pm
===Engagement is what they desperately want===
What they “want” is to win school board elections. Ignoring them would be ridiculous.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:23 pm
Yes Rich, and winning a few lawsuits against public bodies would nicely finance that for them.
Phelps and his family did it for the personal greed. Awake looks to be using the same tactic, but for the financing of their larger goal.
They aren’t getting more votes for their candidates after two cycles now. It would be the height of foolishness to play into their game and lose a lawsuit that will finance them for more time.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:30 pm
===winning a few lawsuits===
lol
So we ignore them so they don’t file lawsuits? What?
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:31 pm
The danger, even to consistently, is to normalize the opportunities to hate groups to win elections in places where damage is being done but may not be recognized.
Things need to be recognized and be highlighted to allow “education” to even whatabouting a consistent thought as to make any thought palatable.
It’s why I enjoy the whatabouting to the thinking of any bad, it allows the tool of normalization a real check… for it means the truly awful can be pinned as something embraces by the normalizer.
To stopping these folks bent on taking down things like school boards? It seemed that the more the folks wanted to be “no mask, no vaccine” candidates, as an example, and highlight these things… the sunshine was the disinfectant.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:31 pm
Also told reporters he didn’t know who Awake is or their politicas despite booking events them three times at his other theater, the Arcada. It’s the Age of the Internet, Ron. Lie better.
Comment by P Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:33 pm
To paraphrase the old adage; ‘If you lay down with bigots, you wake up with hate.’
Where are Jake and Elwood Blues (and their 1974 Dodge Monaco) when you need them?
Comment by Jocko Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Like I was saying…
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:03 pm
Oswego 308
Yeah, it’s odd here, as we have Kifowit, Holmes, and now Hanson in and around the ole 308…
It’s not as much as the politics has gotten more liberal, *even* at the school board levels, it’s that the Right out here is the opposite number and is… well, you see what Rich grabbed.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:09 pm
Mr Onesti seems to support bigotry and disrespect. Wonder when he will let the proud boys rent his theater for a January 6 reunion. Oh that’s right he’ll say he did t know what they represented . Our community wants respect as much as he wants his statue back..
Comment by Fox valley resident Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:09 pm
== controversial western chauvinist group==
That has to be the nicest thing I’ve ever seen the Proud Boys called.
Also the weirdest.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:18 pm
DC - Maybe try reading books instead of reviews from right wing propagandists. Your post is one of the most ignorant I’ve read on this blog, and that’s saying something.
Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:42 pm
Having attended a couple of events at Ron’s venue in St Charles (a Genesis tribute act), I will say that Ron really likes to say his own name and hear himself speak.
Intros I have heard him make must mention his name a dozen times.
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:45 pm
–So we ignore them so they don’t file lawsuits? What?–
In *this* case yes. Not overall. My initial wording could have come across as ignoring them everywhere, when it was intended to mean to ignore them in their attempt to engage for the purposes of getting their supposed enemies to do their work for them. i.e. pushing anger and getting them booted from a public forum, which the theater is. At that point, they can sue Des Plaines and win either through settlement or judgement.
That’s their game with this, and it will probably become more commonly used by their org from here on out. Just like Westboro financed themselves through lawsuits.
The art of war is in knowing which battles to fight, and which not to fight.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 1:57 pm
Speaking of judges, the Proud Boys leader Officer Bakker was hanging out with is a felony in addition to being a Proud Boy. It goes without saying, but police officers cannot hang out with felons.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/11/18/20971345/northerly-island-stabbing-thomas-christensen-sentence-proud-boys
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 2:51 pm
Jocko, I’m here for you man. The blues continue for this unwelcome infiltration into the local school boards.
OneMan, it is fair to say that he puts the “One” in “Onesti”? But the Arcada is a nice venue to see the old-timers play rock and roll, I will give him than.
Comment by Jake From Elwood Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 5:20 pm
=== Reminder that Columbus did very little that was attributed to him, Howard Zinn was a populist fraud and honestly the indigenous people at the time were what we would call human rights violators today if we were honest (but we’re not).===
Remember that we know about Columbus from the writings of his contemporaries.
Mary Graber is a right wing hack. https://academeblog.org/2020/08/10/debunking-mary-graber/
And people are still committing human rights violations. That doesn’t mean they deserve to be murdered. I see you used the word “honest” twice. Is that supposed to make us believe you?
Comment by Betty Draper’s cigarette Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 6:02 am