After a great deal of public outcry, San Jose sent a statue of Christopher Columbus packing from its place in city hall. This year, the San Jose City Council is further distancing itself from the problematic Italian explorer by essentially giving the boot to the holiday that bears his name.
On Tuesday, Mayor Sam Liccardo and the council issued a proclamation recognizing next Monday, Oct. 12, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in San Jose. The Columbus Day holiday officially is still on the books and city workers still get the day off, but San Jose isn’t recognizing it by name, which actually has been the case for the past few years.
“We should reserve city holidays for those whose lives represent the values we can collectively embrace,” read a memorandum co-authored by Liccardo and Vice Mayor Chappie Jones. “Let’s leave the rest for the history books.”
Liccardo, whose ancestry is part Italian, said he hopes to find a thoughtful way to honor both the indigenous population of the Santa Clara Valley and Italian Americans heritage on separate days. Zulma Maciel, director of the city’s newly established Office of Racial Equity, and her staff will be convening with both communities and coming back to the city council with a recommendation next year.
The proclamation — signed by all 11 members of the council — was issued during Tuesday’s online City Council meeting, joining 10 states and hundreds of cities and counties around the United States that have dropped the Columbus Day holiday. Liccardo acknowledged that native tribes like the Muwekma Ohlone called the valley home long before European settlers arrived.
“Contrary to the actions of the federal government in the 1920s when historians essentially sought to erase the memory of the tribe, we know that several hundred tribal descendants remain in the region,” he said. “We certainly want to honor and support their descendants’ efforts to revive their culture and their language and their history.”
Charlene Nijmeh, chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Council, said native communities all across America celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day not only to remember their ancestors but also to recognize their struggle to survive being separated from their land, culture and families.
“Let us use this day to remember our real history, let us use this day to acknowledge the mistakes of the past so we can begin the healing in the present,” she said, “but, most importantly, let us use this day to join together as a community of these lands to celebrate each other and the goodwill and friendship that exists between the Muwekma Ohlone people and the city of San Jose and its citizens.”
While Columbus Day — observed on the second Monday of October — was made a federal holiday in 1937 in part to dampen discrimination against Italian immigrants, it has fallen out of favor in many areas as accounts of the 15th century explorer’s treatment of indigenous people in the Americas have become more widely known. But many Italian cultural groups view the rejection of Columbus as a dismissal of Italian contributions to society.
Ken Borelli, vice president of the Italian American Heritage Foundation in San Jose, said he sees changing the holiday as a purely political decision and was surprised the issue was taken up during a pandemic when a fuller discussion couldn’t take place.
“It is important to understand history in all its complexity and not solely from an ideological point of view,” he said in an e-mail. “I think what is left is to explore a way to honor Italian American heritage without going into the continued debate of evaluating 600 years of history by 2020 standards.”
For those interested, Borelli said the IAHF is hosting a Zoom program on Columbus at 7 p.m. Oct. 15, featuring teacher and historian Richard Di Giacomo, author of the book, “The Critics of Columbus: The Character Assassination of a Great Explorer.” Get more information at www.iahfsj.org.
SANTA CLARA PARADE RETURNS: Last fall saw the return of Santa Clara’s Parade of Champions after an absence of 24 years, and the parade is back this year in virtual form to honor first-responders and front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of this year’s theme, residents were encouraged to create a display saluting essential workers in front yards, porches and windows. A “parade” will be live-streamed at www.scparadeofchampions.org at 11 a.m. Saturday, and there’s also a map posted if you want to walk, bike or drive to check them out.
FALL INTO SOFA MUSIC FEST: I couldn’t believe my calendar when Fil Maresca told me it was already time for the SoFA Music Festival’s fall edition, which will be a virtual event like the spring edition back in April. The big difference is that while audiences are still not allowed, bands will be playing live Sunday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on five different SAn Jose stages — the Mexican Heritage Plaza, LvL Up SoFA, Music Ink Studios, plus a couple outdoor locales.
The bands this time around include The Odd Numbers, Love District, Super Soul Brothers, El Guapo and Casey Wickstrom. You can check out the lineup and get access to all shows (with a donation of $5 to $25 that goes to the bands and venues) at sofamusicfestival.com.
