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> I also don't understand why people get a boner with Columbus. He is primarily of interest because Italian-Americans want a feeling of pride and so celebrate

> I also don't understand why people get a boner with Columbus. He is primarily of interest because Italian-Americans want a feeling of pride and so celebrate "one of their own", the Genovese Columbus. And America is very big and important, so whatever it cares about, a lot of other people care about. If you were Canadian instead, you'd probably be genned up on John Cabot (also Genovese) and Newfoundland and CODFISH! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds8G9sFOK5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds8G9sFOK5w] There's no point sneering that Leif Erikson got there first, Europe as a whole did not particularly know The Americas existed until Columbus confirmed it. Then they rushed to colonise it... which is where most of the Americans (and Canadians) ultimately come from. So that's why it's important to so many of them.

grardb 2y ago
> He is primarily of interest because Italian-Americans want a feeling of pride and so celebrate "one of their own", the Genovese Columbus. May I ask why you hold this opinion? I grew up with tons of Italian-Americans (NYC) and I can confidently say that I've never heard a single person express pride in the fact that Columbus was Italian. In fact, based on my experience, a lot of Americans—regardless of descent—think/were explicitly taught that Columbus was Spanish.
- amiga386 2y ago
  I looked into it a few years ago when then anti-colonialists were insisting that the US should drop Columbus Day (or replace it with a Columbus' Victims Day) as they see him as a symbol of colonialism, eradication of natives, and support for slavery. You might ask "if he's so evil and wicked and wrong and everything bad about the world (and not just a convenient famous person to scapegoat for more general ills), why did anyone ask the US to have a Columbus Day anyway?" And the answer to that is Italian-Americans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day > Many Italian Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage and not of Columbus himself > For the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1892, following lynchings in New Orleans, where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration. > In 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress passed a statute stating: "The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating October 12 as Columbus Day > in 1942, Franklin Roosevelt had the removal of the designation of Italian Americans as "enemy aliens" announced on Columbus Day along with a plan to offer citizenship to 200,000 elderly Italians living in the United States > In 1966, Mariano A. Lucca, from Buffalo, New York, founded the National Columbus Day Committee, which lobbied to make Columbus Day a federal holiday > San Francisco claims the nation's oldest continuously existing celebration with the Italian-American community's annual Columbus Day Parade, which was established by Nicola Larco in 1868, while New York City boasts the largest, with over 35,000 marchers and one million viewers around 2010 So, while the Italian-Americans you grew up with may not have been one of the 35,000 marchers in NYC, I bet most of those 35,000 marchers considers themselves Italian-American. They, and all other Italian-Americans, get a federal holiday which they can use to celebrate the connection between Italy and America (if they so wish), thanks to Italian-Americans lobbying for Columbus Day since the 1800s.
- miramba 2y ago
  Can‘t speak for the others, but I learned that from the Sopranos episode “Christopher”: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_(The_Sopranos) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_(The_Sopranos)
netdevnet 2y ago
> which is where most of the European Americans (and European Canadians) ultimately come from Just a minor correction. People seem to miss it so often not sure why.
- subroutine 2y ago
  They are saying most Americans come from Europe, which is why Columbus's origin is interesting to them. Your correction would be like saying "most European Americans come from Europe"
  - netdevnet 2y ago
    That is not true though unless you explicitly mean something different. American does not equate to European American. Most Americans come from Mexico, India and China. In that order. European countries are not even in the top 5. You are probably talking about something else but are unable to phrase it properly likely due to some internal assumptions. You are welcome to share those assumptions :)
    - dumah 2y ago
      Most Americans (62%) have European ancestry. You are listing the most frequent origins of immigrants to America as of 2024. I’m not sure how this is relevant to the prior discussion. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-race-overview.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-d...
      - netdevnet 2y ago
        You are right. It will be interesting to see how it changes given the fast rising Asian American demographics in the coming decades as Asia becomes host to more powerhouses. Regarding your confusion, ancestry is the whole point of this thread. This sub-discussion just focused on a specific part of the discussion :)

grardb 2y ago

> He is primarily of interest because Italian-Americans want a feeling of pride and so celebrate "one of their own", the Genovese Columbus. May I ask why you hold this opinion? I grew up with tons of Italian-Americans (NYC) and I can confidently say that I've never heard a single person express pride in the fact that Columbus was Italian. In fact, based on my experience, a lot of Americans—regardless of descent—think/were explicitly taught that Columbus was Spanish.

amiga386 2y ago
I looked into it a few years ago when then anti-colonialists were insisting that the US should drop Columbus Day (or replace it with a Columbus' Victims Day) as they see him as a symbol of colonialism, eradication of natives, and support for slavery. You might ask "if he's so evil and wicked and wrong and everything bad about the world (and not just a convenient famous person to scapegoat for more general ills), why did anyone ask the US to have a Columbus Day anyway?" And the answer to that is Italian-Americans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day > Many Italian Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage and not of Columbus himself > For the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1892, following lynchings in New Orleans, where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration. > In 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress passed a statute stating: "The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation designating October 12 as Columbus Day > in 1942, Franklin Roosevelt had the removal of the designation of Italian Americans as "enemy aliens" announced on Columbus Day along with a plan to offer citizenship to 200,000 elderly Italians living in the United States > In 1966, Mariano A. Lucca, from Buffalo, New York, founded the National Columbus Day Committee, which lobbied to make Columbus Day a federal holiday > San Francisco claims the nation's oldest continuously existing celebration with the Italian-American community's annual Columbus Day Parade, which was established by Nicola Larco in 1868, while New York City boasts the largest, with over 35,000 marchers and one million viewers around 2010 So, while the Italian-Americans you grew up with may not have been one of the 35,000 marchers in NYC, I bet most of those 35,000 marchers considers themselves Italian-American. They, and all other Italian-Americans, get a federal holiday which they can use to celebrate the connection between Italy and America (if they so wish), thanks to Italian-Americans lobbying for Columbus Day since the 1800s.
miramba 2y ago
Can‘t speak for the others, but I learned that from the Sopranos episode “Christopher”: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_(The_Sopranos) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_(The_Sopranos)

netdevnet 2y ago

> which is where most of the European Americans (and European Canadians) ultimately come from Just a minor correction. People seem to miss it so often not sure why.

subroutine 2y ago
They are saying most Americans come from Europe, which is why Columbus's origin is interesting to them. Your correction would be like saying "most European Americans come from Europe"
- netdevnet 2y ago
  That is not true though unless you explicitly mean something different. American does not equate to European American. Most Americans come from Mexico, India and China. In that order. European countries are not even in the top 5. You are probably talking about something else but are unable to phrase it properly likely due to some internal assumptions. You are welcome to share those assumptions :)
  - dumah 2y ago
    Most Americans (62%) have European ancestry. You are listing the most frequent origins of immigrants to America as of 2024. I’m not sure how this is relevant to the prior discussion. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-race-overview.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-d...
    - netdevnet 2y ago
      You are right. It will be interesting to see how it changes given the fast rising Asian American demographics in the coming decades as Asia becomes host to more powerhouses. Regarding your confusion, ancestry is the whole point of this thread. This sub-discussion just focused on a specific part of the discussion :)