Did the name it italian pride day where you live now?
The people who want it to be Columbus day dont deserve consessions
St Patricks day isnt a federal holiday, so its fine.
I object to this being a federal holiday
Agreed. I edited my post to clarify my message.
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Then we agree
Looks like it became an official holiday in the 60s, so it was probably corruption that got it on the books and now inertia keeps it alive.
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It may evolve but it does currently seem to be a token gesture as it is not accompanied by widespread initiatives to recognize the culture and actually improve the situation of Indigenous people?
Canada has long had a day to celebrate Indigenous culture but it has only been in the last few years that it has been accompanied by concrete initiatives to try to better the lot of Indigenous people. The day is not a holiday and was set up on the summer solstice.
Interesting. Joe Biden was the first President to officially declare it a national holiday in 2021, but Wikipedia says it’s been celebrated in Berkeley since 1992 and other municipalities have been adding it since.
Still, at the federal level we’ve only had two ever. I certainly never heard of it until a year ago. 
I wouldn’t call it “widespread”, but there is a patchwork of efforts in some places to raise awareness of the atrocities committed during the European conquest of North America and the lingering disparities therefrom.
Once again, it’s worth remembering that we have candidates for political office who are running on promises to prevent public schools from teaching things that might make white people feel bad about themselves.
Also, some Italian-Americans seem inclined to resist what they perceive as an attack on their heritage with perceived attempts to demote Columbus Day.
Canada’s further along in that regard, although I do note that September 30th doesn’t seem to have been adopted as a statutory holiday by the provinces.
I am not a great believer in adding on more statutory holidays as that doesn’t necessarily equate with folks observing the holiday as it was intended. I would rather see concrete steps taken to improve Indigenous peoples’ lives rather than declare a public holiday. Maybe September 30 should be like our November 11 Remembrance Day which is widely observed without it being a public holiday everywhere.
this is true. in the case of juneteenth, i don’t think it does much to combat racism, but people who already were celebrating juneteenth probably appreciate the day off. this isn’t gonna really be true of columbus day turned indigenous people day as indigenous people don’t celebrate it and it’s just a silly gesture to them.
and an offensive gesture to make it italian pride day.
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I think making it Italian pride day is dumb. If it seems wrong or offensive to make change a day honoring Columbus to that of Indigenous people, maybe make it immigrant day or something. Perhaps that’d be a nice reminder to those white people who tell other non-white Americans or first generation Americans to go back to their country that the vast majority of Americans are the result of immigration.
that seems inappropriate to me too. i think we should just scrap the day entirely as a federal holiday.
people do like having days off though, so it would have to be replaced by something i suppose. so keep it as indigenous peoples day.
I have no Indigenous blood in me but I have a whole lot of guilt over how white folks have treated native Canadians. I have been working with several Indigenous groups recently to try to improve math education for native youths. Opportunity starts with education imo.
As an aside, my wife’s ancestors (on her mother’s side) are Cherokee. I would expect most Americans would have a hard time defending Andrew Jackson’s actions against Native Americans!
I’m jewish, so i’m not white, therefore I don’t have any guilt here.
Guilt may have been the wrong word for me to use as my ancestors were not directly involved either. Maybe sadness or anger is a better word.
My wife’s ancestors on her father’s side were Russian Jews who also got treated very badly. Lots of persecuted ancestors in her family.
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well, yeah, sadness and anger i do have, thus this thread.
and thus being annoyed with italian americans who take so much pride in columbus that they insist on renaming this day for them rather than lose it entirely. They seem pretty racist and self-centered to me.
We could drop Columbus Day and elevate October 4th (feast day for St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy) to a feast of Italian heritage, akin to how St. Patrick’s Day is a feast of Irish heritage.
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works for me as long as that doesn’t become a federal holiday.
not guilt, but do you feel a kinship with the Native American?