And so we can't have a national holiday that creates an ongoing harm for a significant portion of our citizens."įor Native Americans, that pain is the first thing they feel when they hear "Columbus Day," Speed said. "Indigenous children are going to school and being forced to hear about and celebrate the person who set in motion the genocide of their people," Speed said. At least 10 states now celebrate some version of Indigenous Peoples' Day. Rally participants listen to an address by Frank Bear Killer of the Oglala Lakota tribe outside the state Capitol in Lincoln, Neb., in 2016 to mark Lincoln's first Indigenous Peoples' Day. It just shouldn't be around the figure of Columbus."Ĭelebrating Columbus, she said, not only whitewashes a violent history but also discounts the further trauma that honoring him inflicts on Indigenous people. "Italian Americans were greatly discriminated against in this country, and it's incredibly important to have a day to celebrate that heritage. "There are a lot of Italian Americans who very much support the shift to Indigenous Peoples' Day because they don't want to feel themselves associated with a man who is known to have committed terrible crimes against humanity," she said.
Speed says she recognizes the importance of celebrating the history and contributions of Italian Americans, but there has to be another way to honor them. He went on to write, "We believe Christopher Columbus represents the values of discovery and risk that are at the heart of the American dream, and that it is our job as the community most closely associated with his legacy to be at the forefront of a sensitive and engaging path forward, toward a solution that considers all sides." Columbus anchored in the Bahamas.įor many Italian Americans, Columbus Day isn't just about the man but about what the day represents: a people searching for safety and acceptance in their new home. It became a national holiday in 1934 to honor a man who, ironically, never set foot in the United States. Italian Americans latched onto the day as a way to mainstream and humanize themselves in the face of rampant discrimination. The first commemoration came in 1892, a year after a mass lynching of 11 Italian Americans by a mob in New Orleans. It was adopted at a time when Italians were vilified and faced religious and ethnic discrimination. For many Italian Americans, Columbus Day is their day to celebrate Italian heritage and the contributions of Italian Americans to the United States. The shift isn't happening without some pushback. That's not something anyone wants to celebrate."
That's not something we want to celebrate. "Which included pillaging, raping and generally setting in motion a genocide of the people who were already here. "Today we understand that while was an explorer and is credited with being one of the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, we now know a great deal about the history and the way that he and his people behaved when they came to this continent," said Shannon Speed, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center. National Sandusky, Ohio, Makes Election Day A Paid Holiday - By Swapping Out Columbus Day
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