Columbus Day has become an annual headache for Italian Americans.
As the holiday’s original iteration continues to lose ground to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, more Italian Americans are coming to a realization: Must unconditional defense of Christopher Columbus’ controversial legacy be the price of preserving a holiday meant to celebrate their heritage and accomplishments in America? It shouldn’t.
As New York’s Columbus Day Parade — the largest in the country — becomes increasingly the exception nationwide, Italian New Yorkers can make something bigger of this day and show the nation what comes next.
My great-grandfather, Paolo Subissati, arrived at Ellis Island in 1914. In his time, displays of Italian culture were frowned upon and many immigrants faced overt bigotry.
That climate helped shape the Columbus Day we know. In 1891, a New Orleans mob lynched 11 Italian men in one of the largest mass lynchings in American history. In its aftermath, marked by a diplomatic crisis with Italy, President Benjamin Harrison established a one-time national celebration of Columbus in 1892. It became a permanent observance in 1934 after decades of community lobbying.
For Italian Americans in that era, Columbus was a defensive shield. By anchoring their identity to a historical figure already woven into early American lore, they sought protection from hostility.
Today, there is no reason for Italian Americans to remain exclusively wedded to Columbus, who is part of their history but far from the only figure to define it. Acknowledging this reality, along with the profound suffering experienced by Indigenous peoples, is not caving to the modern urge to erase history. They can confront the past honestly without dismantling the celebration of their coming of age in America.
Representing roughly 5% of the nation’s population, Italian Americans are no longer an insular or marginalized group seeking validation.
On the banks of the Mississippi, where the Columbus Day story began, stands a humble “Monument to the Immigrant.” Created to honor the contributions of Italians to New Orleans, it is a poignant example of how Italian Americans can honor their own history through a lens that speaks to others with shared experiences.
Rebranded Italian American heritage celebrations defined by the actual history and living pulse of millions — not by one man who never even set foot in the continental United States — are a good start. But what if the solution comes with an olive branch from Italian American community leaders in the spirit of the New Orleans monument?
Italian Americans could champion a new national Heritage and Legacy Day on Fifth Ave., a celebration by and for all Americans, inspired by their own experience. With similar festivities in every part of the nation, such a day would enable all Americans — whether their ancestors were already here in 1492, arrived on the Mayflower or came through Ellis Island in steerage like my great-grandfather — to celebrate unique histories woven into a common narrative of overcoming adversity and defining the American story.
Just imagine the celebrations in New York.
The goal shouldn’t be to compete with or diminish Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which was born as a reaction to legitimate historic injustices rooted in Columbus’ time. Italian Americans should use the national momentum to redefine what the day means beyond Columbus so it secures a proud and honest place for their experience in the American story.
No one needs to surrender their day. More Americans can join in celebrating if it becomes bigger than Columbus.
Subissati is a former board member of the Italian Enclaves Historical Society, where he researched communities across North America. The views expressed are his own.