Why Celebrate Columbus Day?

By Alec Pruchnicki

In spite of having an Italian American mother, I’ll try and be as objective as possible. There are a few good reasons to never celebrate Columbus Day but I think more for celebrating it. First, a little history.

After Columbus “discovered” America bad effects started immediately. European diseases decimated native populations but that was inadvertent. What wasn’t inadvertent was the imposition of slavery on the native population when the hunt for Asian spices and gold didn’t pan out. Whether Columbus himself was the instigator or whether he allowed those under him to perpetrate it, the responsibility fell on his shoulders and he failed miserably. The imposition of slavery was soon followed by the imposition of Catholicism and the Spanish language which managed to destroy much of native culture not already destroyed by disease.

Another reason is that national holidays are usually not established for non-political figures. Martin Luther King Day is an exception but there aren’t any others except Columbus Day. But honoring the date of October 12, 1492 didn’t really take off in the U.S. until 400 years later. Why?

In 1891 the largest mob lynching in U.S. history occurred in New Orleans. A lynching is the public killing of individuals who have not received due process. The police chief had been shot and before he died, he identified his assassins as “the dagos,” a derogatory term both then and now for Italians. Dozens of Italians living in New Orleans were rounded up and put on trial. Six were acquitted outright and three resulted in a hung jury (no pun intended). The local American political leaders, who had recently managed to cancel Federal control during Reconstruction and routinely engaged in some rough and tumble violent political conflict themselves, were outraged. There was some criminal activity in the Italian community and this killing was blamed on Italians in general. The term “Mafia” entered the English language.

A massive lynch mob was organized by prominent local politicians and it stormed the prison where the suspects, some of them already acquitted, were held. Nine were shot and killed and two were dragged out and hanged. Many U.S. newspapers applauded this vigilante justice but the international community was outraged. Italy broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. and threatened war. At that time, Italy had a small modern navy to protect itself from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Adriatic Sea but the U.S. had mostly outdated ships from the civil war. A blockade of the Mississippi River and New Orleans was a real possibility.

President Benjamin Harrison acted. He arranged for reparations to be paid to the Italian government and the families of the victims. He also proclaimed Oct. 12 “Discovery Day” to honor the discovery of America, and indirectly Columbus, Italians in general, Italian immigrants, and Italian American citizens. Some of the lynchers were tried for the crime but were acquitted. At that time, the tiny Italian American vote did not help Harrison get re-elected in 1892 but at least talk of war lessened.

Over the years, the meaning of Columbus Day has changed significantly in the Italian American community. It is frequently viewed as a day to honor Italians and their contributions to America and not just one person who was at the right place at the right time. Moves to downplay or eliminate it are often regarded as an insult to the present day Italian American community for crimes committed by one Italian over five centuries ago.

Even a comic take on this has appeared. In the HBO show The Sopranos, some of the gangsters are complaining about demonstrations protesting Columbus Day by Native Americans and the presumed discrimination against Italians. Chris takes the side of the Native Americans. Furio curses out Columbus because he was from Genoa and Northern Italians frequently look down on Southern Italians, like him. The accomplishments or crimes of Columbus himself seem almost irrelevant.

Recently, I heard one more argument for honoring Columbus Day. Oct. 12, 1492 is the most famous single known date in human history. All of history, especially in the Western world is divided by this date into before and after it. Maybe Harrison had the right idea about calling it “Discovery Day.” Italian Americans can celebrate it by the indirect honoring of Columbus himself or Italians in general, and Native Americans can mourn it as a day that marks the beginning of multiple disasters for them.

In any case, the discovery and exploitation of the New World was eventually inevitable as Cabral’s fleet heading to India in 1500 was blown off course and landed in Brazil. Subsequent exploitation ranged from slavery and genocide to trading beads for land in New York City’s first documented real estate scam. What will happen to Columbus Day is still to be determined, but I personally will respect the date while remembering its dark side.