Facing 400 Italian Americans and other protestors enraged by a school calendar it wiped clean of named holidays, a New Jersey school board voted Monday to return to its original school calendar, including a day off marked for Columbus Day, USA Today reports.

Prior to the vote, the Randolph Township Board of Education endured an hours-long public session where citizens demanded Board resignations, and accused the school officials of pandering to cancel culture activism.

Related news: Congressman Tom Suozzi Calls for US Apology on WW2 Internment of Italians

The Ricupero’s, a New Jersey family comprising three generations of Italian American heritage, demanded that the 15th-century explorer be put back on the school calendar.

The family’s youngest member, Chiara Ricupero, 19, told The New York Post: “I’ve lost all my friends from high school, except one. I was told I was an embarrassment, I was told I was disgusting, I was told ‘F’ you.’”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stumbled through a similar ordeal when he, with no prior warning or public input, unilaterally changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day on the NYC schools’ calendar in May.

In a rather unbelievable move, the mayor — facing a fierce public outcry — blamed the former schools chancellor, Richard Carranza, for the name change and declared that Italian American Heritage Day/Indigenous Peoples Day would be celebrated on Oct. 11 with a day off from school. (Legislators on the state and federal level are working to put Columbus Day back on the calendar).

Related news: Italian Parliament Votes to Defend Columbus Day, Statues in the US

Meanwhile, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations is spearheading a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia to reverse Mayor Jim Kenney’s executive order that changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in the city this past January.

The lawsuit seeks to designate the Italian American community as a protected class under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and if that happens, the precedent would suddenly make it much harder for elected officials to cancel Columbus in the U.S.

Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is suing the city of Pittsburgh and Mayor Bill Peduto, after Peduto approved the removal of the city’s 50-foot Columbus monument. The ISDA and Peduto’s administration are now entering a judicial mediation process, which will determine the fate of the statue.

Anti-Columbus legislation was recently shot down in the Maryland state senate, and statues were saved in two Connecticut cities as local leaders and voters pushed back against protestors.

The list goes on and Italian America’s voice grows louder by the day.

(A special thanks to the Italian American One Voice Coalition for their pivotal advocacy work in Randolph, N.J.)

Our History

The time-honored Columbus Day celebrations were launched in the late 1800s as Italian immigrants attempted to create a sense of self-esteem and dignity during a period where they were subjected to lynchings, bigotry and prejudice throughout the U.S.

Columbus’s journey sparked 500 years of immigration to America, attracting peoples from throughout the world seeking a better life for their families — this is the spirit we champion and are fighting to preserve, and this is what the Columbus statues stand for.

Our Stance

The Italian American community has always supported the designation of an Indigenous Peoples Day as it is most rightly and most justly deserved.

However, it’s patently unjust that our heritage be erased to appease another group.

 

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America today!