There is ongoing controversy over whether our nation should continue celebrating Columbus Day. It's well understood that Christopher Columbus did not truly "discover" America in 1492, as Indigenous peoples had been living on the land for thousands of years. However, the origins of the holiday are more complex than they might seem and are not solely about honoring the Italian explorer who sailed under the Spanish flag. Instead, Columbus Day has deeper roots in the history of Italian immigration to the United States and the struggle of Italian Americans to gain acceptance and recognition. Between roughly 1880 and 1924, more than 4 million Italians—primarily from Southern Italy and Sicily, including my own ancestors—arrived on American shores in search of opportunities they couldn't find in their homeland, much like countless other immigrants seeking a better life in the United States. Photo by Lewis Hine Like other immigrants they were not m...
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