WTI Magazine #79    2016 May 13
Author : Nick Fuoco      Translation by:

Columbus Day is a day that we as Italians hold very dear as a way to honor the Italian heritage and strong immigrant culture of this great Country. Recently, il nostro giorno, Columbus Day, came under attack in the State of Utah via S.B. 170 which was crafted by State Senator Jim Dabakis from Utah to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day. We knew, as Italians and Italian Americans, we had to fight this and protect our heritage. This is our story and our game plan for successfully defeating the bill.

The bill was sprung on us very late in the game as we found out it was fast tracked through committee and brought to the floor. The Native American community showed up in numbers at the committee which we were unaware of which allowed it to get through committee. We had to act to quickly to mobilize our support. As leaders with the Italian American Civic League we knew that we had to represent the interests of our members and work in conjunction with Utah's Italian Consul Mike Homer to push back and fight these attempts.

Our defense of Columbus Day was built on the following key pillars: influence, preparation, team work, and respect for the Native American Community.

We knew we could utilize our influence by reaching out to key members of the Senate, who just a few short years earlier, had commemorated October as Italian Heritage month in the State of Utah. We reached out to each of our respective Senators as well as reaching out to key party leaders in the Senate to get in front of this. We sent emails, letters, and left voicemails. The amount of contact you can make is important to let them know there are two sides to every story. We had prepared the Senators with facts about the history of the holiday, facts and fiction about Columbus, and input from their constituents about how the holiday is embedded into the immigrant culture of this great country and of all Italian Americans – the fifth largest ethnic group in America. The input and materials were so influential that excerpts of our letter were actually read in opposition to the bill on the floor of the Senate.

We had prepared letters, materials, and op-ed articles for the newspapers to get on the other side of this. We spent time researching prior laws and providing materials to send to the Senators advising them on the history of the holiday and Utah Law which already commemorated Indigenous People's Day.

Defeating this bill involved substantial team work with all the relevant stakeholders. We were blessed to have the opportunity to work with Maria Fassio Pignati of the Order of the Sons of Italy who provided us materials to assist in our efforts. These were instrumental in the letters we wrote and materials we provided the Senators. We also worked hand-in-hand with Mike Homer, the Honorary Italian Consul, to influence and defeat the bill. The Italian American Civic League, which is one of Utah's oldest civic organizations, was extremely critical as many of our members wrote and called their Senators voicing their opposition to the bill and its leaders, Nick Fuoco and Dominic Fratto, helped lead the effort.

Lastly, we felt that we did not have to make a choice between honoring our Native American brothers and sisters and honoring Italians via Columbus Day. Supporters of the bill were attempting to make a false equivalency stating that by honoring Columbus and Italians you were dishonoring Indigenous People. We feel this is wrong and disrespectful to both sides. Our own families arrived in Utah in the early and mid-1900's, crossing the same ocean Columbus crossed. They struggled tirelessly through discrimination and without government assistance, learned the language, served their adopted country in the armed forces and became proud, loyal citizens. To reject Columbus is to reject a holiday we hold so dear to Italian culture. We are justly proud of our Italian heritage and we know our Native American brothers and sisters are equally proud of theirs. We must all agree that we must not and cannot favor one at the cost of the other.

All this led to us successfully defeating the bill by a vote of 15-10. We are honored to have successfully defeated the bill. These attempts to erase Columbus Day and wipe out the only day that our nation recognizes the immeasurable contributions of Italians to our great country are not going away so it is important we stand united to defend our heritage. We are here to help!

Viva l'Italia e buona fortuna!