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There were no protests or vandalism, but those who honor Christopher Columbus and those who do not made themselves known on Columbus Day. At the statue of Christopher Columbus in front of Union Station in Washington Square, the local Sons of Italy left a red, white and green wreath honoring Columbus. The explorer is seen in the Italian American com...

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Normally Sherman Avenue up to the boardwalk would be lined with vendor booths and a tent would have housed patrons listening to music and enjoying Italian sausage sandwiches and cannolis, but thanks to the ongoing pandemic, things were different this year. An Italian-American heritage celebration was held in its place.   The Knights of Columbus Col...

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Over the summer, calls for the removal of Christopher Columbus statues were being made across the country amid Black Lives Matter protests. The City of Columbus was once home to three statues of the city's namesake. Now, the Christopher Columbus statue at both City Hall and Columbus State Community College have been removed. “We were contacted by t...

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Happy Columbus Day, everybody!  That is, if you’re one of the folks who still celebrates Columbus Day because, appropriate to today’s often contentious designation, we’re presenting the sixth and final segment of our “Conversations on Columbus” series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus! This week is our attempt to tie a nice big...

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On Monday, Illinois state lawmakers and the American Indian Center will announce new legislation to swap out the official Columbus Day holiday with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Meanwhile some Italian Americans in Chicago are against this. A rally was held Sunday to demand Chicago and Illinois stop erasing Columbus from history. Another rally will take...

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Beginning on December 8th 1941, over 600,000 Italian-Americans were branded “enemy aliens” and were firmly under the surveillance of the US intelligence community. Out of that number, tens of thousands were experiencing a very broad range of civil rights violations and massive economic losses, and a few thousand were being held in internment camps...

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Italian Americans in Syracuse will gather in Columbus Circle Monday, to pay tribute to the Italian explorer, possibly for the last time. And they're not happy about it. After years of controversy and discussion, Mayor Ben Walsh made the final decision on the future of the controversial statue last week. The statue will be coming down. "The city of...

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It’s unfortunate that this year’s Columbus Day Parade was canceled because of the pandemic. But it’s even more unfortunate that in recent years, an anti-Columbus movement has risen up attempting to eradicate history. Columbus Day is not a day to honor an individual, but rather a day to remember a courageous voyage, the catalyst that initiated over...

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Dominic Candeloro, a former history and Italian-American studies professor, said that explorer Christopher Columbus’ legacy is not clearly an evil one, as some would argue. Candeloro (below), who also led the effort to create an Italian-American studies program at Loyola University Chicago, recently told The College Fix via phone interview that peo...

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Local officials, members of Italian heritage groups and residents of Nutley and Belleville gathered in view of their towns' Christopher Columbus statues Sunday to celebrate the explorer's legacy. The activities, which included a morning flag-raising in front of Belleville Town Hall and a wreath-laying ceremony and car parade in Nutley, replaced the...

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