Around New England

Pittsfield School Committee To Reconsider Ditching Columbus Day

May 29, 2018

In January the Pittsfield School Committee voted to rename the holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October “Indigenous Peoples Day” instead of Columbus Day.

But the chairman said the committee will reconsider the vote after about 30 Italian-Americans showed up to argue against the decision at a committee meeting last week.

Donna Merletto, president of the Italian-American Club, accused the Pittsfield School Committee of trying to “rewrite history.”

“Your actions are hurtful,” Merletto said, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

Critics of 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus say he treated natives badly and ushered in an era where Europeans overran and all but wiped out indigenous peoples.

Supporters don’t deny his faults, but they tout his courage, navigational skill, religious commitment, and opening the New World to inhabitants of the Old World, leading to the current amalgamation of peoples living in the Americas.

“He deserves to be honored. He deserves to be debated. Among the saints, we are sinners, too,” said Marietta Rapetti Cawse, a retired teacher of Italian and social studies, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

The committee meeting took place Wednesday, May 23. The chairman said the committee will discuss the name of the holiday again at a subsequent meeting.