More than 100 Bridgeport residents gathered at Broad Street's painted stairway Thursday to call for an end to systemic racism in Bridgeport and across the country.

Bridgeport Generation Now organized the event as the city debates about what to do with the statue of Christopher Columbus that was removed from Seaside Park in July.

City, state and religious leaders spoke out against putting the memorial back up.

Organizers say Columbus statues are a symptom of the same institutional racism that leads to police violence, as well as economic and education gaps.

The City Council is holding a public hearing on Zoom Thursday night to help determine the fate of that Christopher Columbus statue.