* WILL…
Chicago’s public schools will no longer observe Columbus Day, replacing that October school holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day. The decision by the Chicago Board of Education has aroused the ire of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. Its president, Sergio Giangrande, on Thursday called the decision a “slap in the face” of the more than 500,000 Italian Americans in Chicago. Grande says his group, which sponsors the city’s annual Columbus Day parade, is moving to reverse the school district’s decision. The five-to-two decision by the Chicago Board of Education follows similar efforts elsewhere, including South Dakota, to recognize the negative effect of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the western hemisphere on the indigenous population.
Um, that 500,000 number is for the entire Chicagoland area, not the city itself. The Illinois portion of the Chicago region is about 8.63 million people, so they’re just under 6 percent of the population. Just 10.3 percent of CPS students are white, and it stands to reason that far fewer are Italian-Americans. That’s not meant to downplay the role of Italian-Americans in society, it’s just pointing out that the number used by Mr. Giangrande and repeated in several news outlets is inflated.
* Meanwhile…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot this morning said she doesn’t plan to support changes to get rid of Columbus Day for Chicago. She said it made sense to celebrate Columbus and indigenous people, which is what CPS did before this week. Would potentially be a big messy fight otherwise. https://t.co/51tSOUroI9
— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) February 28, 2020
* There’s obviously a strong feeling of entitlement by most ethnicities for “their” holiday, which is reflected in this comment…
"the blacks" pic.twitter.com/5kgAmrRda2
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) February 28, 2020
To be fair, Sposato said “The Polish” and “the Irish,” so it’s kind hard to say this was racist. But that’s beside the point. People get all fired up about “their” holiday, so none of this is particularly surprising.
* As an aside, I have German ancestry. “We” have a “day,” but it’s not a “no-work” holiday, even though almost 20 percent of Illinoisans report German ancestry.
I’ve often wondered who should be chosen to celebrate on a German-American holiday. Albert Einstein comes to mind. Any musings from you?
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February 29, 2020 at 12:14AM
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