Many Italian Americans have embraced the 15th century explorer - once hailed as the discoverer of America - as a cultural hero, but not all agree. The groups clashed for days before the city covered up the statue with a wooden structure and announced plans to seek to its removal. The plaintiffs, who include Councilman Mark Squilla, allege that Kenney’s recent executive order renaming the October holiday fits a pattern of discrimination by the mayor against his Italian American constituents, who they say should be designated a protected class.Īlso cited are efforts to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from south Philadelphia and last year’s removal of a statue of ex-mayor and police commissioner Frank Rizzo from outside the municipal services building near City Hall after it became a target for protests.Īfter the Rizzo statue was removed, defenders gathered at the Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza statue and protesters also arrived. The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that while both groups deserve recognition, Mayor Jim Kenney “may not take action that discriminates against Italian Americans to exalt another ethnic group in its place,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia City Council member and Italian American groups are suing the mayor’s administration in federal court over the decision to change the name of city’s Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Recently, it has taken effect as an official state holiday in various places.Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience. Since the early 70s, many states have petitioned to have the name changed to National Indigenous People’s Day to honor Native Americans and commemorate their stories and culture. He also was responsible for the enslavement, mutilation, and mass genocide of thousands of Native Americans and indigenous people.īecause of this fact, the celebration of Columbus Day has become less and less of a day of pride and more of a painful reminder to a dark past in American history. To many, Christopher Columbus is not a celebrated hero, but a violent tyrant who wasn’t very good at navigating, considering he thought he’d landed in India when reaching the Americas. Over the years, the celebration of Christopher Columbus Day has become more and more controversial due to the atrocities he committed against Native Americans. These efforts were successful and Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1968. Lucca, from Buffalo, NY, founded the National Columbus Day Committee, which lobbied to make Columbus Day a federal holiday. Many Italian-Americans took this as an opportunity to celebrate their heritage. These rituals took themes such as citizenship boundaries and the importance of loyalty to the nation. During this celebration, politicians, poets, teachers, and preachers began to spin the web of patriotism under the veil of Columbus. This was part of a larger effort after the lynching incident to placate Italian Americans and ease diplomatic tensions with Italy. By the 400th anniversary, following a lynching in New Orleans where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration.
Though Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, the earliest documentation of any unofficial celebration of Columbus Day wasn’t until 1792.
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