Westford Proposal To Change Columbus Day Fails

WESTFORD, MA — A citizens proposal to recognize Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day failed to pass a vote in Town Meeting this weekend in Westford.

"Westford believes that the culture of Native American people is one to be promoted, the history is rich, diverse, and worthy of celebration, and that the actions and policies of European colonizers of the Americas destroyed a part of that culture, inhibited the promulgation of it for generations to come," the proposal read in part.

After more than an hour's discussion, the vote failed 108 to 111. A proposal by resident Denis Galvin to make March 15, Former President Andrew Jackson's birthday, be set aside "to reflect upon the unjust treatment of the Native American people as well as the evil of racism and other forms of collective bigotry," was referred to the town's newly formed diversity and equity inclusion committee.

Westford joins a number of communities across the state and the country considering whether it should celebrate Columbus Day as historians point to the less romanticized part of the explorer's journey.

Columbus Day celebrations date back to the 18th century in some places, according to the History Channel, but did not become a federal holiday for celebration on the second Monday of October until 1971. The day continues to be listed by the federal government as Columbus Day.

Indigenous Peoples Day — seen by its supporters as a day of reckoning for centuries of systemic bias against native populations — is a more recent phenomenon.

South Dakota was the first state to recognize "Native Americans Day" in 1990, and the city of Berkeley, California, declared the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992. Hundreds of municipalities have followed during the past decade.

But it's complicated.

Italian Americans who came to the United States from the late 1800s through the early 1900s were subject to vicious bigotry, discriminated against and treated violently, even lynched, for decades. Putting an Italian face on the hero of America's origin story gave them a real sense of cultural pride and a stake on being an American. Congress curtailed Italian immigration on racial grounds in the 1920s, even though Italians were legally white. In 1965, Italian-Americans campaigned to overturn racist restrictions using the Columbus icon to their advantage.

For many, especially those who are old enough to remember discrimination, that's what's at heart here.

"It's a hard sell to the Italian Community," acknowledged Waltham resident Corrie Popp a cofounder of the Italian Americans for Indigenous People's Day, which supported a push to remove a monument to Columbus in Boston's North End last year.

Popp, who is in her 40s and is a teacher in Newton, said she knows that this holiday has been important to normalizing the Italian community, but it's time for an adjustment.

"Can we decouple our awesomeness as Italian Americans with our association with Columbus?" said Popp. "Let's just not honor these people in public places where they make other people feel oppressed. It's not like you have to erase them," she said.

As statutes have been coming down and the holiday has changed to recognize indigenous people there's been an uptick in Italian Americans joining forces nationally to work together to convince people that this isn't the worst thing.

Many argue Columbus isn't fit to represent any Americans, let alone Italians, pointing out that although most historians agree Columbus was born in Genoa, what is modern day Italy, there was no country of Italy during his lifetime.

And, although he sailed to the Americas several times in his lifetime, Columbus only made it to the Caribbean, where historians said he ordered the slavery and deaths of millions of indigenous people.
United American Indians of New England, an area organization, supports bringing down public memorials to Columbus, for that reason.

"This issue should not be presented as 'Indigenous versus Italians,' Mahtowin Munro of United American Indians of New England told Patch. "People of Italian ancestry have a lot of amazing things to be proud of in their history, culture, and people. Columbus, however, should not be a point of pride for anyone."

Munro likened the issue to that of white people in the South clinging to the confederate flag and memorials despite the longstanding demands of Black people to remove those symbols of hate.

"There are some people here who refuse to listen to Indigenous voices and the truth about Columbus," Munro said. "It is wrong and harmful to celebrate people who perpetrated genocide."

As of 2019, at least eight states, 10 universities and more than 130 cities observe Indigenous Peoples Day, according to a USA Today report. Several states, such as Louisiana and Wisconsin, made the change just last year. In Massachusetts, Brookline and Cambridge are among the communities that have made the switch. More are considering it.

Westford's Town meeting is the legislative branch of Westford's government, and all registered voters may attend, speak and vote at its open town meeting.