Two bills that were advancing through the Massachusetts House and Senate, seeking to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, are now all but dead-on-arrival thanks to a viral petition spearheaded by affiliates of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO). 

COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo, along with Tom Damigella of the Italian American Alliance and Andre DiMino of the Italian American One Voice Coalition, led the grassroots effort, which inundated lawmakers’ email inboxes with petitions. 

“We support mutual respect among all ethnicities and races, but this type of erase-and-replace legislation — which is resonating less and less with a majority of Americans — unfairly pits one group against another,” said Russo. “We want an equitable solution for all, and we’ll continue with our successful advocacy and legal efforts to help achieve a compromise.”

A Legal Reckoning  

This past April, in a landmark 7-0 appeal decision, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania revived a lawsuit aimed at blocking Pittsburgh City Hall’s decision to remove a local Columbus statue. In a 24-page opinion, the court reprimanded Pittsburgh’s attempt to uproot the statue, writing that city hall does not have “…‘free reign’ to act as it pleases in defiance of the law."

Philadelphia litigator George Bochetto filed the lawsuit, and subsequent appeal, on behalf of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (a COPOMIAO affiliate organization). The reinstated suit will now go back before Judge John T. McVay, Jr. of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas “for further factfinding and decision,” per the opinion.

In December 2022, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania — in a separate lawsuit — sided with Bochetto when it blocked Philadelphia’s former mayor from removing the city’s 148-year-old Columbus statue from a public plaza. In that decision, Judge Paula Patrick wrote: “It is baffling to this court as to how the City of Philadelphia wants to remove the Statue without any legal basis. The city’s entire argument and case is devoid of any legal foundation.”

Columbus’ History

In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison organized the first national Columbus Day parade in New York City to ease a diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Italy, which surfaced a year prior when the largest lynch mob ever to assemble on American soil murdered 11 innocent Italian immigrants in the streets of New Orleans.

Given the massive success of President Harrison’s NYC parade (attended by more than one million people), Italian Americans built Columbus statues across the U.S. through the 1900s to help fuel their assimilation. Today, the holiday honors Italian American pride and heritage.

Over the past two years, Russo and his Italian American peers have worked directly with White House officials to develop Columbus Day proclamations that explore the history behind the holiday.

See the 2022 and 2023 Columbus Day Proclamations for further context.

An Equitable Way Forward

COPOMIAO suggests that the day after Thanksgiving be recognized as Native American Heritage Day and that the entire month of November be celebrated as Native American Heritage Month, as is already declared by proclamation by the U.S. government. There is also the option of recognizing August 9th as Indigenous Peoples Day, which was designated by the United Nations in 1999. 

“The irony is that Columbus Day was founded by President Harrison, in part, to encourage greater acceptance of immigrants in the U.S. Today, those who oppose the holiday are also fighting for marginalized groups,” Russo said. “It’s the same spirit of inclusivity on both sides, so there must be a ‘middle ground’ somewhere on this issue.”