Columbus Day

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...

On this day in 1492, the sailors on the Pinta sighted an island in the Bahamas after ten weeks of sailing from Spain. Columbus believed the earth was round, but he somewhat underestimated the size of the world. He didn't know the Pacific Ocean existed, and when he bumbled through the Caribbean he thought Cuba was China, and Haiti was probably Japan. Oh well.  He eventually led four expeditions to the New World, making Spain incredibly wealthy and powerful.  And the big grab was on.

Here's something that would probably never happen in Columbus, Ohio. This week the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to now recognize what was once Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day. The School Board followed suit.  It's a perfect example of what our elected officials like to do in Seattle-- it doesn't really cost anything, and makes people feel good. Others just consider this political correctness running amok in the northwest.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, and for the Order Sons of Italy in America’s Grand Lodge of the Northwest, Columbus symbolizes something much different.“He’s a symbol of the era of explorers,” said Anderson, of Tacoma. “Being of Italian heritage, I am proud of the fact that he was Italian. It’s just that simple.”

Anderson, member of the Great Lodge, says the City Council has shown disrespect to the Italian-American community. According to him, a “couple hundred” postcards have been signed and mailed to Mayor Ed Murray and council members about the declaration. He called Councilmember Nick Licata, who is Italian-American, “not a very good Italian” for supporting Indigenous Peoples’ Day. “They’ve stacked the deck against Italian Americans."

We love political consensus in Seattle, but of course you can't make everyone happy.