By: Basil M. Russo, ISDA National President
The strategy was straightforward: to score political points and curry favor in mostly Democratically-run cities, all one needed to do was remove a Columbus statue, look the other way when one was illegally toppled or simply rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.
Read on: Italian Americans Will Unite at NYC’s Columbus Circle This Week
The formula worked for years, the blowback was containable and several media outlets, sympathetic to the anti-Columbus movement, didn’t kick up much of a fuss.
But quite a bit has changed over the past 12 months, as Italian American organizations continue to mobilize and fight back — not with rocks or spray paint — but rather, with sweeping lawsuits and waves of condemnation, petitions and protest.
Apparently, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter weren’t aware that the anti-Columbus playbook now carries with it significant political risk.
Consumed by a deepening PR crisis, de Blasio said he and Porter were blindsided this week when Columbus Day was changed to Indigenous Peoples Day on the NYC school calendar.
In a rather unbelievable move, the mayor blamed the former 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.
However, that half-baked solution has only further enraged the Italian American community, which has watched in awe over the past year as our history and heritage were stripped away by rioters and grandstanding politicians.
Congressman Tom Suozzi, of New York (D-Long Island), was the first of several public officials to come to the defense of the Italian American community by calling upon the mayor to rescind the name change. (Read Congressman Suozzi’s letter to Chancellor Porter here.)
Now, state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) — outraged by de Blasio’s botched name change — plans to introduce a bill next week that would restore the explorer’s name to the New York City school calendar.
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.
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 to end the un-democratic discrimination of our heritage.
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 country.
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 absurd and unjust that our heritage be erased in order to appease another group.
To all of the politicians who are still hellbent on destroying our heritage, we have but two words: good luck.
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