NEW YORK (YBH.ME) – On Monday, Italian-American New Yorkers will be parading up Fifth Avenue, as they have since 1929, but in 22 states, Columbus Day is not even a holiday for government workers.

Christopher Columbus under fire?

For many if not most, it makes for a nice three day weekend, as it was intended to be when Congress moved
it, Labor Day and Memorial Day to designated Mondays back in 1968.

United Native America, a coalition of Native American groups, wants it moved elsewhere in the calendar and renamed Italian American Day. In its place on the second Monday in October? A “Native American” holiday to memorialize America’s first residents. South Dakota has already made the change and Oklahoma is considering it. In Berkeley, it’s called “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

Columbus’ supporters, meanwhile, think forgetting about a gutsy ocean voyage which opened a continent is wrong. Denver is the site of the oldest Columbus Day parade, at 100 years plus, and the past decade has seen numerous protests during the yearly parade. Pranksters this year sent an email to Colorado media claiming the parade had been canceled.

It is planned, per usual, and organizers have no plans to back down.

Laura spent years as a Hollywood story analyst, did a big 180, and is now an entrepreneur focused on web marketing and analytics. She's also a mom of one.

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