No plans have been announced publicly, but the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans that plans the Columbus Day parade this summer sued the city’s park district, demanding that one be restored. She later created a committee to review monuments in the city, including the fate of Columbus monuments. Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July 2020 ordered the statues removed and said demonstrations were endangering protesters and police. It’s a vivid reminder of the ongoing fight over three statues of Columbus, still warehoused by the city after protesters targeted them in summer 2020. “We have to honor that day as a day to recognize the contributions of all Italian Americans, so of course the day should not have been changed arbitrarily,” de Blasio said.Ĭhicago’s annual Columbus Day parade also returns Monday after the pandemic forced 2020’s cancellation of the event that draws 20,000 people. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he supported the compromise. In May, Italian American activists complained after the Board of Education erased Christopher Columbus Day from the New York City school calendar, replacing it with “Indigenous People’s Day.” Following the outcry, the schools changed the designation to: “Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous People’s Day.” The parade is touted by some as the world’s largest Columbus Day celebration. In New York City, the annual Columbus Day Parade returns after a one-year, in-person absence attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. “As far as we’re concerned, we’re going to keep protesting it until Columbus Day is abolished.” “It’s patently absurd to honor Indigenous people and the man who tortured and murdered their ancestors,” said Jackson Meredith, an organizer. Denney Federal Building, calling for an outright end to the holiday in Columbus’ name at all levels of government. Activists plan a small protest outside the Robert V. Some feel a split day causes further harm. Events on Monday will focus on the newer addition, including unveiling a statue honoring the first Native American physician, Dr. In 2016, Lincoln, Nebraska, joined other cities adding Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the calendar on the same date as Columbus Day. Protesters opposing racial injustice and police brutality against people of color rallied for months in summer 2020. Debates over monuments and statues of the Italian explorer tread similar ground, as in Philadelphia where the city placed a box over a Columbus statue last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. “Not honoring Indigenous peoples on this day just continues to erase our history, our contributions and the fact that we were the first inhabitants of this country,” Begay said.Īcross the country tension, over the two holidays has been playing out since the early 1990s. Lee,” Les Begay, Diné Nation member and co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition of Illinois, said, referring to the Civil War general who led the Confederate Army.Ĭolumbus’ arrival began centuries of exploration and colonization by European nations, bringing violence, disease and other suffering to native people already living in the Western Hemisphere. “The opposition has tried to paint Columbus as a benevolent man, similar to how white supremacists have painted Robert E. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor
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