A float featuring Christopher Columbus makes its way down Fifth Avenue during the 75th annual Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 14, 2019, in New York. Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesEvery October, a parade of opinion writers, politicians and Americans of Italian descent celebrate Christopher Columbus as someone who represents Italian Americans. But associating impoverished 19th- and 20th-century Italian immigrants with a 15th-century explorer disavows the cultural identities of Italian Americans. It renders
By rejecting their own association with Columbus, contemporary descendants of Italian immigrants have an opportunity to recognize the authentic cultural identities of their ancestors.
How Columbus Day contributes to the cultural erasure of Italian Americans theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.