In response to Dr. Marsella’s essay, the Order of the Sons of Italy in America issued a brief rebuttal and circulated this pamphlet: Columbus: Myths and Facts. In OSIA’s worldview Columbus is getting just getting bad rap by people who are out to push their own political agendas by playing fast and loose with history.
Dr. Marsella responds:
October 15, 2009
Dear Dona:
I take exception to your defense of Columbus Day precisely because I
am of Italian ancestry. I found the report you submitted to justify
a Columbus Day holiday to be less than “objective” and factual as
you contend. Indeed, it was characterized by some truths, some half-
truths, and some serious misrepresentations.
It is precisely because I am of Italian ancestry that I reject a
national holiday that honors the name of Columbus. I believe Columbus
was a bold, courageous, and skilled navigator, but the consequences
of his arrival and travels among the Caribbean Islands proved
destructive and genocidal for the indigenous people of these lands
and for many others in the following centuries. There can be no
justification — either then or now — for what occurred.
Even today, the more than 300 million indigenous peoples of the world
are faced with continuing struggles for survival under pressures from
the same abuses and exploitations that motivated Columbus’ voyages
and actions. The celebration of Columbus Day remains an affront to
the identity, dignity, and pride of the many indigenous people of the
world whose ancestors were brutalized and exterminated by the most
vicious of acts. Certainly, we are capable of feeling what they must
feel and of sharing their bewilderment as they ask why do people
celebrate their destruction and pain.
It is precisely because I am Italian and because I know the history
of Italian Americans replete with the many abuses, prejudices, and
stereotypes that we have suffered — and continue to suffer — that I
call for a change from Columbus Day to a national holiday more
appropriately and morally named Diversity Day.
It is precisely because I value traditional Italian cultural and
historical concerns and talents for enduring in the face of suffering
and oppression, and for responding with honor and grace to those
challenges, that I advocate a Diversity Day national holiday. It is
precisely because so many of the indigenous people who have survived
oppression across the centuries are my American fellow citizens and
they deserve recognition for their courage and endurance that
advocate a Diversity Day celebration.
Amidst the current national climate of political, economic, and
cultural fragmentation that has so undermined our rich national
heritage of prizing diversity, I urge you and other Italian-Americans
to step forward and to say our local and national leaders the following:
As Italian Americans who have known both the abuses and the successes
and privileges of life in the United States, it is with great pride
that we call upon you to establish a national holiday honoring our
nation’s diverse populations and cultural traditions, many of which
are disappearing under pressures from cultural homogenization.
Consider this: Who better could call for a holiday rooted in
empathy, sensitivity to others, and respect for differences that
Italian Americans? This call would do much to remind Italian
Americans and others of the nobility of nurturing and respecting the
identities of others.
What does it mean to be of Italian American ancestry? It means to have the integrity, valor, and determination to stand before theworld and to choose to give voice to those who voices have beensilenced, to offer hope to those whose who hopes have been denied,and to extend a supportive hand to all those in need much as we havebeen helped by the kindness and caring of others from all groups.
Diversity Day, Si! Columbus Day, No!
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D.
