L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 4 US - and it won't certainly be the last - to take such a decision, angering a large slice of the Italian American community, who took it as a direct offense to its heritage. The decision, however, shouldn't be seen as a discour- tesy to Italian Americans, but rather as the result of historical research carried out on the figure of Christopher Columbus and, in particular, on his "discovery of the American continent." Indeed, it is nowadays ascer- tained that the first Europeans to find the New World had been the Normans, better known to us commoners as the Vikings. Archaeological findings demon- strate the existence of Viking set- tlements in North America cen- turies before Columbus' arrival. However, today's debate revolves around two other ques- tions. Debates The first and, without a doubt, more important debate is centred on the fact the American conti- nent wasn't uninhabited, but thriving with indigenous civiliza- tions. The Inca and Aztec empires were destroyed by Spanish conquistadores and this is the reason why it has been decided to publicly recognize the impact that European coloniza- tion had on local people of the Americas all those centuries ago. The second issue touches Columbus' figure directly. Reputable historical sources maintain he was a rather contro- versial figure even then, even to the eyes of the Spaniards, who ultimately financed his expedi- tions and gave him important political and administrative roles in the New World. It seems Columbus was far from friendly with indigenous people, many of whom became his slaves and were unfairly treated, to the point he was removed from some of the official roles he held in the colonies because of it. It is, in fact, on the basis of this data, and of the literature it originated, that many decided to evaluate again the figure of Columbus. The debate is all the more heated in the US, where it goes hand in hand with that about the removal of Confederate monu- ments all over the country. In Charlottesville, riots during a white supremacists rally caused the death of a woman protesting against them, defenders of fig- ures viewed by many Americans as traitors: in the end, they had rebelled to the Fatherland. Protests Many Italian Americans have been opposing the Los Angeles City Council decision, convinced it's nothing more than a form of discrimination against their own community. They debate the his- torical soundness of what they consider a revisionist attack against an important figure for their heritage. One thing is cer- tain: Columbus Day represented, throughout the decades, a moment for the Italian American community to show publicly their italianità. Now, though, we have to ask ourselves a simple yet fun- damental question. Is our identity rooted merely on an historical figure? The answer to this question has to be a forceful "no." Italy is, without a doubt, the country with the largest historical and cultural patrimony in the world and as much as Christopher Columbus may have been important - albeit this spe- cific trait has been contested by historians - he represents only a short chapter in the millennial history of the country. This histo- ry, not a single historical figure, is the real treasure all Italians should cherish, including the tens of millions people descending from Italian migrants in the world. A whole day wouldn't suffice to fully honor the role our ances- tors had in the cultural life of that small country shaped like a boot, resting in the middle of the Mediterranean. A role that con- tinues to be important, as demon- strated by the many Italian artists, scientists, writers, directors, appearing every day on newspa- pers or on tv. Pride Indeed, the best way for peo- ple of Italian descent - and who's writing is proudly part of the community - to reassert our heritage isn't organizing or tak- ing part to a parade every year wrapped up in the tricolore, but rather learn about our past, about the good deeds, and also the mis- takes, of those that preceded us in time. Being proud of our roots means nothing if we are unaware of what Italy has done for the world. I don't think - I am actual- ly certain - to be the only one fighting with people my age in Australia (or the US, Argentina, Canada) who know nothing about the glories our country has created and exported everywhere in the world. One of the best examples comes, indeed, from the US, where after a century long cam- paign the Congress finally recog- nized, in 2002, Italian Antonio Meucci, friend of heroic histori- cal figure Giuseppe Garibaldi, as the inventor of the telephone, title held up to then by Scot Alexander Bell. Egoism and duty Our Italian identity should not be based on single, isolated chap- ters. It's been founded for cen- turies, even millennia, on the lives and actions of people who changed the course of history, and I am not talking exclusively about the Roman Empire or the Renaissance. You won't find a century in the history of Mankind where the people of Italy haven't given substantial contributions to change the world and, still today, we keep giving, creating the very people who'll build the future. We have to be proud, but we also have a very important duty and the Columbus debate shows it very clearly. Not all Italian contributions to the world have been positive, some of them, in fact, may even have been perni- cious. Columbus' enterprises did have a dark side that for centuries remained hidden to the eye of official history. And he hasn't certainly been the only Italian holding a dubious place in histo- ry: what to say about the role of Italians in the Inquisition, or about strange figures like Cagliostro, without forgetting the nation's most shameful export, organized crime. They are all as Italian as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Giuseppe Verdi. Recognizing only the "good" of our own Italian heritage is not pride, it's sheer egoism. Similarly, true pride doesn't last only a day to celebrate an histori- cal figure, it's built upon our past and upon the necessity to learn about it and teach it to those who don't know it. To demonstrate we're proud Italians, we have to promote our culture and its great figures, our works of art, books, movies, musicians. This is our duty in life: get to know where we come from and show it to the world. The only way to understand who we truly are. Italian pride: one day a year is not enough NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 1 Christopher Columbus became symbol of Italian American pride, but is he really the only symbol of the Italian identity in the US?

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