A year ago, I wrote that Columbus Day was under attack. American Indians, "Reconsider Columbus Day-ers," "Historians" and a slew of others have made a full time job out of bashing Columbus and his achievements. I won't go into the details here of why these people are wrong, or misguided. You can catch that all in the older post.
As the Wall Street Journal correctly reported, Columbus Day is continually being pushed to the back burner; it is an afterthought in the 21st century. Although it is listed as a federal holiday, many schools and places of business across the country decide to remain open- with little to no acknowledgment of the day and its namesake.
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| A poster for an anti-Columbus Day group. |
To that end, it is important to note that in America, there are only 2 days that are federal holidays in recognition of a single person- Columbus Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Of the two- only Columbus is being relegated to "secondary." To imagine a person would not recognize MLK day is "heretical"- but for Columbus, it is just part and parcel.
With all due respect to the accomplishments of MLK, he does not deserve a day to himself- whereas Abraham Lincoln has to share a federal holiday with other presidents. That, at least to this observer, seems unfair. Lincoln was THE force behind the Civil War, from whichever angle you view it. He saw this country through its darkest hour- and came out victorious. He fought and won his own "revolutionary" war.
But I digress. The status of Columbus Day is a microcosm of the flaws and faults of the Italian American community. The Italian community has remained apathetic to an onslaught of anti-Italian media and Italian stereotypes for decades. The apathy by the Italians is so prevalent that non-Italians have wondered aloud- "Where is the Italian community response?" The answer is: There isn't any and there won't be.
The Italian community lost its identity. It is so consumed with "being American" that it lost sight of what its own heritage is. It lost sight of the fact that its immigrant and first generation ancestors fought for Columbus Day, fought for equal representation, and fought for respect towards Italians.
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| Chicago Columbus Day-1965 |
The Italian community of today cannot even hold a candle to the one our parents were apart of. It is broken-fractured into millions of pieces all moving in their own opposite directions. And with each movement one of these pieces makes, we move further away from our ancestors' accomplishments. We're reaching a point where everything that they achieved will be lost forever- all because of Italian apathy.
Columbus was chosen by early Italian immigrants as a unifying figure for a reason: he was uniquely tied to both Italy and America. What better figure exists to bond Italians to America? So popular was this concept of Columbus Day as both an Italian and American holiday that it was made a federal holiday in a relatively short period of time. It was an astounding accomplishment for newly arrived immigrants.
Make no mistake, the attack on Columbus Day IS an attack against Italians, the same way Jersey Shore, Mob Wives and Real Housewives NJ are. They all push the envelope against Italians- because Italians stand pat and take the abuse. Well now, the attack isn't coming from a reality TV show; now its coming from reality. The prospect of losing Columbus Day is extremely possible in our immediate future.
How can you save Columbus Day? You can fight school districts that do not observe it, sign petitions, and if need be- protest. You can walk out of school or work- inform your bosses and teachers of what you consider egregious behavior towards your heritage. In short- make noise and lots of it. Your ancestors would have and you should too.
To help in our effort to save Columbus Day, please let us know if your town/school district observes the holiday. We'd like to map areas of concern.
Here in Brooklyn, NY we have a Columbus Day parade on Saturday, Oct.8, on 18th Ave...we still observe the Day here, thank God...
ReplyDeletePreserve it. It should not be abolished.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this for a little while now, Columbus Day should just be replaced with Italian Heritage Day. It was in part started to celebrate our heritage, and over the years has become its main purpose.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, Columbus really wasn't all he's cracked up to be. He treated the Natives horribly, didn't really make it to the present United States, and got as far as he did in the name of SPAIN, not Genoa. Not only that, Italian-Americans have a very *thin connection to him. Most of us have ancestry in the mezzogiorno, he was from as far North as it gets - TODAY they're nearly seperate countries, in 1492 they WERE.
Anyway, other than that, I definitely agree with you. Our community is losing it's strength. I myself no longer live in my "ethnic enclave" in Pittsbugh PA (although I visit as often as possible). So to change it to Italian Heritage Day would give more attention to our community and celebration of our heritage (a move like that would gain a LOT of publicity) and would appease the MANY Natives who oppose Columbus Day.
To the last commenter:
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the feedback, but I happen to not agree with Italians not having a connection to Columbus. As I wrote above, Columbus was hand picked by the Italian community as a unifying symbol to bring Italians and Americans closer. The entire point of the holiday was to forge such a unity. So, to relegate it to a mere "ethnic" celebration would completely ruin what the holiday was intended for.
Also, Columbus was not the monster modern society claims he was. His record is vastly blown out of proportion. Further, it is not fair to view historical figures from our modern social values in 2011. The entire world was upside down (from our modern view) in 1492. Slavery was a pandemic that affected societies from Greece and Rome to colonial England and Spain. If we are to be critical, we should be critical on what the world was- and not be critical of one man who arrived in the Americas and did what society of the time expected of him. If he had landed in a new land in 1992 and started committing such acts, I'd be more inclined to believe he was a "horrible" person.
And let's not forget- things weren't much better in 1792. Our forefathers had just won a war for freedom and liberty while slaves worked their lands. Yet, I don't hear much chatter on Independence Day becoming Slavery Remembrance Day or worse yet, being wiped off the calendar completely.
I covered many of these topics in an earlier post. Feel free to check it out Columbus Day Under Attack
@Greg,
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. It's hard to compare events that happened hundreds of years ago to our modern standards, that's a very good point.
As for the Italian-American connection to Columbus, I mean, we can claim it all we like but that doesn't mean it's there. I think he was mostly picked (as I believe you yourself are saying) in an effort for newly arrived immigrants to forge a connection to this country. To make them feel like THEY were apart of its history, too.
Anyway, what you're saying proves my point; it WAS a way to bring Italians and Americans closer together. Thus, it's served its purpose. Italian-American culture is now apart of American culture. The problem we face now, is that our culture is misrepresented. So, if we changed it to Italian Heritage Day, it would 1. appease Columbus Day's MANY detractors, and 2. give us the oppurtunity to promote our *real* culture all across the country (like I said, something like this would probably get a LOT of media attention).
Anyway, that's just my opinion. The fact is, Columbus Day probably won't be around much longer. Italian-Americans should take advantage of this opportunity to expose the rest of the country to what our culture is REALLY like - not just silly media portrayals.
It is interesting to see how the Italian Americans and Italians both see Colombo as a demon or a saint.
ReplyDeleteFrom one point of view some Italians in Italy were not pleased with Colombo. My belief is that Dante Alighieri or Giuseppe Garibaldi could have been an example of the heroes Italians could really have.