![]() ![]() Certainly, we cannot blame any group for wanting to escape persecution or any group for holding onto the generational trauma that results from such experiences. Asian Americans and Hispanics have also, at times, fought to accomplish the same only thus far, Italian Americans and other Eastern Europeans have been alone in their success. Because the criteria for being White was always undefined, allowing those in power to adjust the definition such that they could maintain power, this racial ascension has often been seen by immigrants and ethnic minorities as a way to overcome systemic racism. Italian Americans were not the only community to try to assimilate into Whiteness. Hence, for many Italian Americans, the celebration is not specifically about Christopher Columbus but about their efforts to overcome racial discrimination and make a home in a new land. In fact, the first celebration of Columbus Day was a year after the 1891 New Orleans lynching of 11 Italian Americans in Louisiana when a white mob had sought vigilante justice for the murder of the local police chief although a jury had already acquitted the majority of the accused men. After all, by connecting themselves to Christopher Columbus, who was in fact Italian born although his voyages were Spanish sponsored, Italian Americans were able to take credit for America’s “discovery” and therefore, the existence of the White community in the United States. In order to become more “White,” Italian Americans gave up their language, their culture, and sought to associate themselves with historical figures such as Christopher Columbus. ![]() In order to escape the bigotry and rampant discrimination, Italians felt the need to assimilate themselves into American history and thus, into Whiteness. Therefore, we must analyze the issue through multiple vantage points.įirst, Italian Americans, who by and large support the idea of Columbus Day, faced violent bigotry during mass immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to their darker skin tones and Catholic faith. Taking a stand seems easy when one doesn’t understand that the cultural issues surrounding Columbus Day are rooted in a history of systemic racism or when one only looks at systemic racism through one point of view. Can these two holidays coexist? Or do we need to take a stand? The Controversy However, President Biden also declared today to be Columbus Day. President Biden proclaimed this day as a day that “honors the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.” This is ostensibly a huge step forward in the fight to move away from celebrating the man who initiated over 500 years of atrocities against Native Americans. Today marks the first national Indigenous People’s Day. Indigenous People’s Day – A Day to Face Our Shameful History of Discrimination Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava on ![]()
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