North Cook News

Christopher Columbus statues removed and Columbus Day being replaced by Indigenous Day. A double whammy for the Italian-American community. 

Columbus Day is celebrated annually. But “Columbus” has been challenged by several groups and people. They perceive the statues and Columbus Day, a national holiday, as a reminder that there had been killings of indigenous people, which the Italian-American community contests.

To them, these are reminders and celebrations of their heritage. They are open to discussions but have not been involved in the process. 

“Should a broader scope of stories be told, sure. We’ve got no problem with that,” Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans in Chicago, said. “We can learn from history, you just don’t take things down. It happened. And that’s our challenge right now.” 

"We want to be treated just as ethically and fairly as any other group,“ Onesti told North Cook News.

Erasing Columbus Day from the calendar makes the Italian-American community more upset.

“Then they talk about replacing … Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is another thing that we don’t understand, Onesti continued. “Indigenous people already have a state day, a national holiday, how many days do they want? They’re trying to replace Columbus Day. We would love to sit at the table with those that disagree. We’re not fighting. We just want to talk about it. That’s the opportunity that we want.”

While Onesti is aware that Rep. Anthony De Luca (D-Chicago Heights) is working on a bill about holidays, he said they need answers as they don’t understand how a federal holiday can be simply ignored, denounced, or replaced, or if it’s legal to do so.

Evanston was the first Illinois city to recognize Indigenous People's Day, according to ABC7.