On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council sided with alt-left activists to remove “Columbus Day” from the calendar.
Liberals claim that the holiday’s existence “celebrates Christopher Columbus as a symbol of genocide for native peoples in North America and elsewhere.”
In addition to repealing the holiday, they also replaced, it opting to make the second Monday in October a day in L.A. to commemorate “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.”
Italian Americans voiced anguish over the proposal, telling council members it would erase a portion of their heritage. Some said they supported the creation of Indigenous Peoples Day as long as it is held on a different date.
“On behalf of the Italian community, we want to celebrate with you,” said Ann Potenza, president of Federated Italo-Americans of Southern California, speaking in a room packed with Native American activists. “We just don’t want it to be at the expense of Columbus Day.”
That idea was unacceptable to Chrissie Castro, vice chairwoman of the Los Angeles City-County Native American Indian Commission. She argued that city lawmakers needed to “dismantle a state-sponsored celebration of genocide of indigenous peoples.”
“To make us celebrate on any other day would be a further injustice,” Castro said.
The day will remain a paid holiday for city employees, regardless of the name.
Wednesday’s debate had been driven by two men with different visions of how to replace Columbus Day, which was established as a federal holiday in 1937. Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, a member of the Wyandotte Nation tribe in Oklahoma, argued that the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day would provide “restorative justice.”
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