New York, Oct. 11 (US): A federal holiday Monday dedicated to Christopher Columbus highlights the continuing divide between those who view the explorer as a representative of Italian American history and others who are horrified by an annual tribute that ignores the indigenous peoples who live their lives and their culture. Forever changed by colonialism.
Driven by national calls for racial equality, communities across the United States have taken a deeper look at Columbus’ legacy in recent years — paired with or replacing Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the AP reports.
On Friday, President Joe Biden issued his first presidential proclamation of “Indigenous Peoples Day,” the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday that celebrates Columbus.
But activists, including members of Native American tribes, said ending the holiday in Columbus’s name was hampered by politicians and organizations focused on Italian-American heritage.
“The opposition tried to portray Columbus as a benevolent man, similar to the way white supremacists painted Robert E. Lee,” said Lee Begay, a Denny Nation member and co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples Day Coalition in Illinois, referring to the Civil War general who commanded the Confederate Army. .
The arrival of Columbus initiated centuries of exploration and colonization by European nations, bringing violence, disease, and other suffering to the indigenous population already living in the Western Hemisphere.
“Failure to honor indigenous peoples on this day continues to erase our history, our contributions, and the fact that we were the first people of this country,” Begay said.
Across the country, tension over the two holidays has been running since the early 1990s. Discussions about the monuments and statues of the Italian explorer turned similar ground, as in Philadelphia where the city placed a box over a statue of Columbus last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Demonstrators opposing racial injustice and police brutality against people of color rallied for months in the summer of 2020.
Philadelphia attorney George Pochetto, who is fighting the administration of Democratic Mayor Jim Kenny to uncover the statue, said on Saturday that many felt efforts to remove it were an attack on Italian-American heritage.
Kenny previously signed an executive order changing the city’s annual Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Monday will be the city’s first holiday under the new name.
“We have a mayor doing everything in his power to attack the Italian American community, including canceling his parade, removing statues, and changing the Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day by order,” Pochetto said.
Kenny’s spokesman, Kevin Lessard, said the statue should remain surrounded “in the best interests and public safety of all Philadelphians.”
In 2016, Lincoln, Nebraska, joined other cities by adding Indigenous Peoples Day to the calendar on the same date as Columbus Day. Monday’s events will focus on the most recent addition, including the unveiling of a statue honoring the first Native American female physician, Dr. Susan La Fleche Pecot.
Some feel that a split day causes more damage. Activists are planning a small protest outside the Robert in Denny Federal Building, to demand an end to the holiday in Columbus’ name at all levels of government.
“It is plainly absurd to honor Aboriginal people and the man who tortured and killed their ancestors,” said Jackson Meredith, one of the organizers. “As far as we are concerned, we will continue to protest that until Columbus Day is cancelled.”
In New York City, the annual Columbus Day Parade returns after a one-year personal absence attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. Some have described the parade as the largest Columbus Day celebration in the world.
In May, Italian-American activists complained after the Board of Education removed Christopher Columbus Day from the New York City school calendar, replacing it with “Indigenous Peoples Day.” After the protest, the schools changed the name to: “Italian Heritage Day / Indigenous Peoples Day”.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he supports the settlement.
“We should honor that day as a day to appreciate the contributions of all Italian Americans, so of course the day should not have been arbitrarily changed,” de Blasio said.
Chicago’s annual Columbus Day Parade also returns Monday after the 2020 pandemic forced the cancellation of the event, which attracts 20,000 people. It’s a vivid reminder of the ongoing fight over three Columbus statues, still stored by the city after being targeted by protesters in the summer of 2020.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July 2020 ordered the statues to be removed and said the demonstrations put protesters and police at risk.
Later it established a commission to review the city’s monuments, including the fate of the monuments of Columbus. No plans have been announced publicly, but the Italian Americans’ Joint Civic Committee planning a Columbus Day parade this summer has filed a lawsuit against the city’s park district, demanding the restoration of one.
The parade usually attracts protesters and he expects that on Monday as well, said Ron Onestie, president of the organization. He sees the feast, procession, and statues as a celebration of Italian Americans’ contributions to the United States, not just Columbus.
“The result I’m looking for (in order to) respect our traditions and continue the conversations,” Onesti said on Saturday. “Every plaque that accompanies the statue says it recognizes the contributions of Italian society. So people need to understand why it is there, then let’s sit down and find out where we go from here.”
In 2017, Illinois designated the last Monday in September as Indigenous Peoples Day but kept Columbus Day on the second Monday in October. No proposal to replace Columbus Day made this year has received any action.
Chicago Public Schools voted in 2020 to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Day, to the ire of many aldermen and Italian American groups. The city’s holiday calendar still lists Columbus Day.
Bejay, an Indigenous Day advocate, said the organization decided to focus on changing Columbus Day first in Cook County, hoping it would be an easier path than convincing state officials or Chicago. But so far, county board members have not lined up behind the proposal.
“Why more than 500 years is still forgotten?” Begay said. “Why don’t we have this one day to acknowledge these horrific atrocities committed against indigenous people?”