Florida State University College of Medicine Columbus Day Controversy Response Essay 1. Response essay to Nannette Croce’s “Columbus Day Controversy”…. A

Florida State University College of Medicine Columbus Day Controversy Response Essay 1. Response essay to Nannette Croce’s “Columbus Day Controversy”…. Answer the following questions in the short essay: Does she support Columbus Day? What arguments does she use to support her position? Based on your reading, do you think we should celebrate Columbus Day? Explain why or why not… use specific facts from your outside sources. (Her essay will be given in a file below) 2. Write a short essay on the mythological creature called “Bigfoot”. Describe Bigfoot, Explain why some do and don’t believe in it, explain why you do or don’t believe in it. List sources 3. Write a short fictional story with real historical facts about two real characters meeting. (short= 3 paragraphs) Example: (George Washington meets a band of ninjas but still becomes the first president of the united states) List 2 sources for the facts you provide in the story “Columbus Day Controversy” by Nannetee Croce
“You can’t be more off-course than one-half of a world.”
Russel Means’ quote regarding Columbus Day didn’t surprise me. My own visceral reaction to
the remark did.
Generally, I soak up iconoclastic remarks about American heroes. More important, I support
American Indian rights. I donate to the native American Rights Fund, believe strongly in
American indian sovereignty, and even support indian gaming.
I am also the grandchild of Italian-American immigrants. Each year the controversy between
American Indians and Italian-American communities over Columbus Day celebrations tugs me
in two directions.
I am no apologist for Columbus or the atrocities he committed, but the parades aren’t so much
about Columbus or what he did, as what he symbolizes to the Italian-American community.
The “white” population of the US descends from a variety of ethnicities, and just about every
group arriving after the Pilgrims endured a period of poverty, ridicule and contempt before taking
their place within the dominant culture. Columbus Day celebrations started in Colorado during
just such a period for Italian-Americans.
True, the white–well not quite brown–skin of my southern European ancestors allowed eventual
admittance to the middle classes, but, in this age of political correctness, it may surprise some
to know that the sixties and seventies– my formative years–were the heyday of the ethnic joke-the brunt of which were almost always the Poles or the Italians.
Even my college professors protrayed Italians as lovers; not fighters, or worse, ignorant and
incompetent. The buffoonish image overshadowed names like Guglielmo Marconi and Enrico
Fermi or Hemingway tales of Italian bravery in WWI.
Means’ remark was just another Italian joke, from someone who should be more sensitive to the
psychological effects of negative imagery.
I realize that American Indians in Denver offered a compromise involving an Italian Pride parade
without mention of Columbus. Reneging on that agreement was not my peoples’ finest hour, but
showing pride does not mean having respect.
Columbus serves as the ultimate “gotcha” against all those Mayflower descendants claiming
superiority based on their earlier arrival. An Italian arrived first and discovered that “New World”
where the Pilgrims landed.
American Indians deserve a national holiday honoring their heroes. Native American Heritage
Month deserves as much attention as Black History Month. I’ll support a Crazy Horse or Sitting
Bull parade even on the anniversary of the Little Bighorn, but allow us Columbus.
Columbus Day isn’t against American Indians; it’s for Italian-Americans.

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