“Columbus Day – we’re back, Italians,” said President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting this week where he signed a proclamation for Columbus Day, coming up this Monday.
He noted that the group gathered for the meeting, including the press, broke into applause has he signed it.
“I’ve never seen that happen before,” he joked, later adding “we love Italians.”
So, what the did the president mean by his “we’re back” comment? Well, Columbus Day has a complicated history, so settle in.
Let’s start all the way back in 1492, when explorer Christopher Columbus of Genoa, Italy, arrived on the shores of islands in the Caribbean while on a mission funded by Spain, ushering in a new era of global trade, exploration and colonialism. He’s been credited with the discovery that brought Europeans to the Americas, something that led in the creation of the U.S. itself centuries later.
Despite Italy’s longstanding influence in the Americas and in the U.S., Italian Americans have faced discrimination. A xenophobic attack that took the lives of 11 Italian Americans actually led former U.S. President Benjamin Harrison to establish Columbus Day as a holiday in 1892. It was first observed as a federal holiday in 1937 and in 1971, the nation began observing it on the second Monday in October.
However, it “has long been one of the most inconsistently celebrated U.S. holidays,” according to the Pew Research Center. While federal workers typically have the holiday off (this year, the shutdown has many federal workers off already) people in the private sector might not have Columbus Day off at all.
Furthermore, there has been pushback on the celebration of Columbus as the man who discovered the New World. For example, a separate proclamation this week noted that Norse Viking Leif Erikson is thought to be the first European to ever set foot in the New World, though his trip was to Canada. Some Native American advocates have also argued that the Columbus celebration is inappropriate due to the violence, disease and death native populations were subjected to in the years following his expedition.
“Columbus was not the first foreign explorer to land in the Americas. Neither he nor those that came before him discovered America – because Indigenous Peoples have populated the Western Hemisphere for tens of thousands of years,” per the National Museum of the American Indian. “European contact resulted in devastating loss of life, disruption of tradition, and enormous loss of lands for Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. It is estimated that in the 130 years following first contact, Native America lost 95% of its population.”
In some parts of the U.S., both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day are celebrated on the same day, said the Pew Research Center. Overall, 17 states and D.C. have holidays honoring Native Americans on the second Monday in October, while 18 states observe holidays honoring Native Americans at other times of the year.
At the same time, there has also been a push to preserve Columbus Day. A message from the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America fraternal organization reads: “with our holiday consistently under attack, we are asking the White House to rededicate the Presidency to both the holiday and to our community.”
“Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage,” said Trump’s Columbus Day Proclamation. “Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over – and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.”
Last year, YouGov conducted a poll about what it called “perhaps the most contentious battle over American calendars,” including a survey of opinions form Italian Americans about Columbus Day.
Regarding Columbus himself, 52% of respondents viewed him favorably and 32% viewed him unfavorably, with more favorable views among older Americans and Republicans. Among Italian Americans, views were pretty much the same.
Italians were more supportive of celebrating Columbus Day than non-Italian Americans, though approval of the holiday was more common than disapproval among Americans at large. Again, Democrats were more likely to disapprove of the holiday. Another YouGov articled pointed out that Americans are also more likely to support Indigenous Peoples Day as a national holiday than Columbus Day.
While there has been contention about Columbus Day we should note that former President Joe Biden issued a proclamation in honor of it just last year. He said that “Italian Americans’ courage, strength, and character are woven into the rich tapestry of our country.”