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[deleted] t1_ixhlaut wrote

Reply to comment by imdfantom in Researchers in Galicia open 15th-century tomb to test Columbus link theory. Explorer is generally believed to have been born in Italy in 1451 but some argue he was in fact born in Spain by ArtOak

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[deleted] t1_ixhnxr1 wrote

What would they think of just renaming Columbus Day to “Italian American Heritage Day”

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SparvieroVV t1_ixhq26f wrote

Because honestly this is what should have happened. Then another day for indigenous peoples day. Why did it have to be one or the other?

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BasileusLeoIII t1_ixhuy2c wrote

because if we're not busy bickering over this, we might start to think about wealth inequality

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SeleucusNikator1 t1_ixirwkw wrote

Or literally just switch Columbus for Amerigo Vespucci or Giovanni Caboto, who were also Italian explorers who mapped out America (and in the case of Amerigo, gave it the name America)

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n1ghtbringer t1_ixhpy98 wrote

Fourth gen Italian-American here ... most of us don't care. I'd like to see a more positive example of an Italian with ties to America lauded, but Columbus's ancestry is an interesting historical puzzle and has no bearing on modern Italian-Americans.

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fashionvictimprime t1_ixiezbz wrote

I grew up in an Italian American area in NY. Basically every single Italian American I knew growing up was a Columbus super fan, my family outright thinks that every negative thing said about him was a lie (fun fact, I read a passage from a translation of his journal and they said it was written by a liberal to make him look bad until I revealed Columbus wrote it himself), and attach tons of Italian-American ethnic pride to this dude who existed centuries before Italy was a country and never set foot in the USA (minus some Caribbean territories).

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[deleted] t1_ixhqdfz wrote

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n1ghtbringer t1_ixhvw43 wrote

I'll take your word for it. I definitely know a number of people like that, but I'd like to hope they are a vocal minority.

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DarthCorleone t1_ixhugsx wrote

As an Italian-American, I have never celebrated Columbus Day and I'm all for changing it to Indigenous People's Day.

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[deleted] t1_ixilkin wrote

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very_random_user t1_ixjafnb wrote

>But who cares at this point.

>I strongly oppose any Europeans clinging to their 4th generation cultural heritage though

When I first moved to the US I met people telling me "oh I am Italian too" I would start speaking to them in Italian and they are like "oh no, I don't speak Italian. My grandpa was from Naples" and I was like "what does that mean?". Now I learned. True for any nationality BTW. Met Japanese people never been to Japan, Polish who barely know where Poland is and so on. It's odd frankly. Nationality is a cultural thing, doesn't come with genetics. Someone that grows up in Italy from Chinese parents is actually Italian. Someone that has a grandparent Italian is not. No offense intended, just a fact.

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A_Flamboyant_Warlock t1_ixinsa8 wrote

>I strongly oppose any Europeans clinging to their 4th generation cultural heritage though.

But it's cool for everyone else?

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[deleted] t1_ixisdah wrote

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Ripheus-33 t1_ixizws0 wrote

I don’t see there being an inherent problem with people taking pride in their ancestry, but I agree it’s a slippery slope and there’s examples of people across all ethnicities who take it too far and become full on fascists. What everyone needs to do is just be well rounded and respectful when it comes to cultures.

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A_Flamboyant_Warlock t1_ixjawbf wrote

>I don’t see there being an inherent problem with people taking pride in their ancestry,

The problem is that there's no reason to do so, unless you think being X, Y, or Z makes you inherently superior/inferior. National or cultural pride is silly at best, and a breeding ground for xenophobia at worst.

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DarthCorleone t1_ixjk2y0 wrote

I don't think there's anything wrong with learning about and appreciating the culture of your ancestors. There is a big step from doing that, to holding your cultural heritage as superior to others. And of course there are many Italians who should be celebrated for their contributions to human civilization, but Columbus is not one of them.

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Anonymous_Redhead t1_ixi7ulf wrote

I’m sure there are those people, but we should also remember that people died to make Columbus day a thing for Italian Americans. Just seems weird to take a day away from one people and give it to another because the country oppressed them more.

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[deleted] t1_ixilegq wrote

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Anonymous_Redhead t1_ixj0zv2 wrote

Eh, I wasn’t that invested in the comment to get nuanced about it. Columbus Day was a holiday created to appease Italian Americans after the worst KKK massacre in history and was slowly Americanized as a way to celebrate the “discovery” of America. I get wanting to be rid of it, I just thought it a bit callous and supremely disingenuous.

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