by Yvonne Wenger
A Baltimore City Council proposal to strip ChristopherColumbus of his annual holiday and rename the day for indigenous people has sparked a community debate. Students at City Neighbors Charter School in Northeast Baltimore petitioned the council to rename the holiday. They said they were tired of "mistruths" about the controversial Italian explorer, who did not discover the land now known as the United States of America but is linked to the start of the transatlantic slave trade.
Yet in places such as Little Italy, the day is less about Columbus and more about celebrating Italian-Americans, their culture and their efforts to assimilate over generations. The council plans to take a final vote on the legislation Dec. 5. Joseph Benjamin Gardella hopes officials first stop to consider what might be lost.
Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/
