Columbus Day has become an annual headache for Italian Americans.<\/p>\n
As the holiday\u2019s original iteration continues to lose ground to Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day, more Italian Americans are coming to a realization: Must unconditional defense of Christopher Columbus\u2019 controversial legacy be the price of preserving a holiday meant to celebrate their heritage and accomplishments in America? It shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
As New York\u2019s Columbus Day Parade \u2014 the largest in the country \u2014 becomes increasingly the exception nationwide, Italian New Yorkers can make something bigger of this day and show the nation what comes next.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 histor<\/a>y. 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<\/a> after decades of community lobbying.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Representing roughly 5% of the nation\u2019s population<\/a>, Italian Americans are no longer an insular or marginalized group seeking validation.<\/p>\n