The movement to observe the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, rather than Columbus Day, continues in communities across the United States, including here in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization, working on behalf of supporters and parents at the district’s Native American Magnet School on West Delavan Avenue, has asked the Buffalo Board of Education to make the change official on the school calendar.
There is opposition, though, from some members of the Italian American community who are against scuttling a federal holiday recognizing the contributions of their culture.
The School Board listened to the debate and came up with a solution: Let the kids decide.
Superintendent Kriner Cash suggested the dialogue continue in the form of a contest for students who would delve into the topic with their own research then make a recommendation to the School Board about how to proceed.
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“I think it was a great compromise,” said West District Board Member Jennifer Mecozzi.
The district will start by pulling together a small focus group of high school students this month, said Anne Botticelli, district chief academic officer.
“We want the students to help shape what the work will look like, what form of contest it will be,” Botticelli said. “We know it’s going to be a research project for students, but we want to hear how it will be structured.”
She expects a winner and recommendation to the board will be announced by late winter or early spring.
“We’re looking at this as a really wonderful learning opportunity for our kids,” Botticelli said.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday in 1937 upon request from the Italian American community. In 1972, President Richard Nixon officially designated the federal holiday be observed on the second Monday in October.
Columbus Day has long been protested by Native Americans, who are reminded of the atrocities committed against them and the takeover of their land.
Over the past 30 years, communities across the nation have been changing the focus of the day by renaming it Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
In 2016, the Niagara Wheatfield Central School District changed the day on its school calendar to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
In 2017, the same proposal was made in the Williamsville Central School District. The School Board rejected it.
In Buffalo, the parent group worked on the proposal to the School Board for more than a year before the issue came to a head at its August meeting, said Rachel Dominguez, co-chairwoman of the BPTO.
People on both sides of the debate showed up that evening and gave impassioned pleas in support of their case, before the board agreed to the idea of a contest.
“I do feel that it is important that we accurately teach children and youth the history of the United States and the time before the land was the United States,” Dominguez said. “And I believe there is an opportunity for some real deep education, and I will take advantage of that.”
In the meantime, Monday will officially be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Italian-Heritage Day in the Buffalo Public Schools.
“This is a temporary patch,” Dominguez said. “This is not the end. This is not the final resolution of the issue.”
