Columbus Day

Columbus Day has traditionally been the day that we Italian-Americans celebrate our heritage. Pride in Italian ancestry is reflected in the old, half-tongue-in-cheek saying, "There are two kinds of people in the world - Italians and those that want to be Italians". 

The Italian character, personality traits, foibles, and stereotypes have been oft commented on.  Luigi Barzini's 1969 classic, The Italians, is a must read.  Also, if you can get a copy of it, Barbara Grizzuti Harrison's Italian Days (Ticknor & Fields, New York, 1989) is a journal of the author's travels in Italy that is filled with keen observations and insight into the land, the people and her own life.   In fiction, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" follows a family over four decades while capturing Italy during a period of social unrest in one of the best films I have ever seen. 

Columbus accidentally discovered America for Europe on his way to India more than 500 years ago and the world has not been the same since.  For more than 500 years, people have come to the New World.  My own family came here in the early 1900's - indeed, my mother came here as a two-year old immigrant in 1913. 

Maybe this is the thought we should take with us today.  We are a nation of immigrants - everyone of us except, of course, for Native Americans.  And everyone of us would do well to remember this when anti-immigrant rhetoric strikes our ears.  Fear of the Other is a potent political weapon, which demagogues, Know-Nothings and their ilk have used for centuries. Let's not believe their lies any more and let's be fair and just in our laws.