This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated October 14, 2021
On May 5, the Department of Education released the calendar for next school year and created a buzz when people noticed that the second Monday in October was labeled Indigenous People’s Day. Within a few hours, it was updated to Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous People’s Day.
More than a dozen states, a mix or both red and blue, no longer celebrate Columbus Day. Most replaced the holiday with Native American Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Hawaii recognizes Discoverer’s Day to honor Polynesian travelers who found their state’s islands, while Colorado celebrates Mother Cabrini Day. Over 130 cities across the country, including the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, have also stopped honoring Columbus.
This trend has been growing and it will continue to do so, for good reason. Columbus did not find a new land; Indigenous people had lived here for eons. He did not discover America; he colonized part of the Caribbean. He did not represent Italy; he sailed for Spain, a county that eventually imprisoned him because of how sadistic he was.
Columbus sold girls as young as nine-years-old into sex slavery, cut out people’s tongues, fed babies to dogs, and began a genocide that wiped out three million Indigenous people within 50 years. Many have accepted that Columbus needs to go, but, disappointingly, some still insist that we should maintain a holiday in his honor because it is what they are used to. Bill Cosby was once incredibly popular, but since learning he is a rapist, views have changed completely.
“The intention of Columbus Day was not to celebrate Italian heritage, but to honor a man for whom it has been well-established, is worthy of ignominy, not idolization.”
Columbus Day was first celebrated in 1792 in our new nation to honor the 300th anniversary of his discovery of America, even though he did not do that. It reemerged again on the 400th anniversary in 1892. For over a century, it had no connection to Italian heritage, but in the early 1900s, the Knights of Columbus lobbied state legislatures to adopt it as a holiday. Italian immigrants facing xenophobic hatred, saw that by connecting themselves with Columbus, they were joining their heritage with someone who was, at the time, inextricably linked to the idea of America even being possible.
Over decades, many states adopted Columbus Day as a holiday, always being held on October 12, no matter what day of the week that fell on, and never being a day off from school or work. It was not until 1971 that the second Monday in October was designated as a federal holiday for Columbus Day, with no official recognition of Italian heritage.
Columbus Day has changed plenty over the years already and it has always been based on an inaccurate history of a genocidal monster who did not discover what is now America. The discussion about when and how to honor Indigenous People and celebrate Italian American heritage must be discussed, and one need not cancel the other one out, but it is incomprehensible that anyone would still want to honor Columbus.
Puerto Rican Day, Greek Independence Day, and Brazilian Day are just some of several holidays that honor nationalities with annual New York City parades and they are all great. They are also all observed on weekends. An Italian Heritage Day taking place on the second Sunday in October, with a Manhattan parade down Fifth Avenue, would also be great. The annual 18th Avenue Columbus Day Parade here in Southern Brooklyn, has been taking place on an October Saturday since 1982.
No other nationality has a federal holiday, a New York holiday or a New York City school holiday on a weekday. The intention of Columbus Day was not to celebrate Italian heritage, but to honor a man for whom it has been well-established, is worthy of ignominy, not idolization. Simply removing his name and celebrating Italian Heritage Day on an October Sunday would not take anything away from anyone, but instead treat it the same as holidays for other nationalities.
As I draw to a close, I realize that I spoke little of Indigenous People’s Day, which is more of a reason for there to be a dedicated day, not shared, that focuses solely on Indigenous people, where they are recognized on the holiday originally named for a man who brutalized Indigenous people.
