Nicole Malliotakis reprimanded the decision, stating that the decision “came as a shock to parents.” Both councilmen and the representative agreed that, while there is nothing wrong with celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, fault lies in celebration at the expense of a day that celebrates Italian American culture. Councilmen Joe Borelli and Steve Maeto and U.S. 11 was referred to exclusively as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. When the calendar was initially released, Oct. Last spring, New York City’s Department of Education announced Columbus Day would not be considered a holiday, starting in the fall of 2021, according to CBS New York. “I support the efforts of trying to get the name of the holiday changed as I think it would have many positive effects … With this change, I think more conversations would be sparked about the negative parts of history, thus more people would be properly educated.”įordham is not the only educational institution working to rename the holiday from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Similarly, Fox expressed her hope that the holiday’s name change will facilitate important conversations. “I think that Columbus Day was never critical to the culture of America and the Italian American identity to begin with, and I think that it is only right that … we instead choose to celebrate a day that recognizes the truth of the continents on which we live.” Murphy said he supports the university’s push to rename the holiday. On the other hand, Fordham’s United Student Government is currently working on a proposal to have the university change its recognition of the holiday and celebrate the date as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead., according to Long. “When Italian immigrants arrived in the U.S., they were often mistreated and experienced discrimination based on the notion that they were ‘not quite white.’ Columbus became a symbol of an illustrious Italian heritage that ‘proved’ the dignity of their ‘race.’”įor a group facing discrimination, promoting Columbus’ origins as an Italian bridged the divide between Italian immigrants and the rest of the nation. Kathleen LaPenta Long, Ph.D., a senior lecturer of Italian at Fordham, summarized Columbus Day’s historical significance for Italian Americans. “With that, I am aware of the negative and offensive connotations it holds, thus I don’t think it should be a holiday to be celebrated.”įor many Italian-Americans, Columbus Day is not just a celebration of the explorer, but a celebration of ideals. “I think Columbus Day is an important day, as it marks the date our country was discovered,” said Fox. While Victoria Fox, FCRH ’25, finds pride in her Italian heritage, she also recognizes the controversy of the holiday. “I’ve never really ‘celebrated it’ so to speak, aside from the customary lesson about Christopher I had in elementary school … When I was in high school and the idea was first introduced to me that Columbus was a less admirable historical figure, I began to feel much more uneasy about acknowledging the day.” “Columbus Day has never been particularly important to me,” said Michael Murphy, FCRH ’22. Fordham students who identify as Italian American weighed in with their views on the holiday. This debate remains prevalent in American culture. While the holiday has been widely accepted by many Italian Americans, there has been a push to abolish the holiday amid controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus’ ties with colonialism and abuse of Indigenous people. They view Columbus Day as a day of celebration of Columbus’s accomplishments as an explorer, as well as their Italian history and culture.
Christopher Columbus is a source of pride for many Italian Americans.
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