It’s no secret that Christopher Columbus was definitely not the hero he is proclaimed to be, as we were taught continuously in school. In fact, he is a very controversial figure who many feel should have never been given a national holiday. Well now the city of Los Angeles is the latest U.S. city to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
The L.A. City Council collectively voted earlier this week to replace the widely controversial Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day instead. As reported by The Root, the L.A. City Council has officially removed Columbus Day from the calendar and added the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day, in a move that puts the spotlight on which other cities will follow suit.
Via The Root:
[In an exclusive,] The Los Angeles Times reports that although Italian-American civic groups objected to the move, the council changed the second Monday in October to Indigenous Peoples Day to “commemorate indigenous, aboriginal and native people.” It will remain a paid holiday for city employees.
Italian Americans voiced their objections to city lawmakers, saying that removing the holiday would erase a part of their heritage. Although some were also in support of Indigenous Peoples Day, they did not want it to come at the expense of Columbus Day, and felt that Indigenous Peoples Day could happen at another time.
The council voted 14-1 to approve the change. The one dissenting vote was Councilman Joe Buscaino, a first-generation Italian American. Buscaino had attempted to have the holiday replaced with a different name that celebrates “all of the diverse cultures in the city.”
Councilman Joe Buscaino along with other council members, initially voted to move Indigenous Peoples Day to August 9, the day when Native peoples are celebrated by the United Nations, but the move was rejected by remaining members of the council. Buscaino commented on the vote, stating “all of our individual cultures matter.”
With this vote, L.A. joins Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque and Portland as cities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
Check out today’s Top Stories here:
Jamie Foxx To Head Star-Studded Telethon For Hurricane Harvey Relief
Torrei Hart Reveals She & Eniko Are No Longer Speaking
L.A. Officially Votes To Replace Columbus Day With Indigenous Peoples Day was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
