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Fighting Back for Columbus
The News-Gazette Champaign, IL By J. Philp BloomerThis appears to be just another in a series of an orchestrated effort which will result in the inevitabile, ultimate and complete disceditation of Columbus, unless the Italian American Community develops a National Strategy. Thanks to IOAOV and ABIEBOOK@aol.com
March 19, 2001 - - Tom Bruno has done a lot of soul-searching in the last month. The City Council member carries a heavy load. He's a politician, a defense lawyer and a middle-aged white male. As if that's not enough of a burden, now he has to cope with the fact that he's Italian.
It seemed like just yesterday, he was merrily waltzing through life, defending the accused, voting for longer bar hours and formulating streetlight policy. Then out of nowhere comes the heavy hand of another government to shatter his carefully constructed existence.
It was the Urbana school board, (caving in to political correctness, and revisionist history, by cancelling) Columbus Day, that sent Bruno over the top. Last month, the board dumped the offending Columbus Day in favor of a "Fall Holiday."
This whole series of events has placed Bruno at a fork in the road of life. He could don a hair shirt, slink into the woods and howl exorcisms. Or he could embrace his lot and strike out boldly like, like, Christopher Columbus!
"I pondered this. I searched my soul. And I discovered I just don't feel badly about Christopher Columbus or being Italian," he finally confessed, throwing caution and perhaps his political future to the wind.
"Actually, my reaction was something like, 'Gimme a break.' It's just another attempt to rewrite history," he said. "By this action, we're being told we should be ashamed. Well, I'm not. This was a brave and courageous man who risked his life to make a hugely important discovery when everybody else was telling him he would fall off the face of the Earth."
Bruno's not on the Urbana school board, though he practices in that city. And his Italian-American friend Pat Pioletti happens to work there, too, as facilities manager for the city of Urbana.
The two have decided to pool their frustration into their own celebration of Italian heritage and, yes, Christopher Columbus . They are now planning an Italian-American Day for October 12 the traditional Columbus Day at the Urbana Civic Center. Spaghetti and meatballs, checkered tablecloths, Italian music, Chianti, they'll have it all. They're talking in defiant tones about an essay contest for schoolchildren to write about a great Italian-American.
"I've always had these fantasies. Now someone's frustrated me enough to do something about them," Bruno said. They want to get Italian-Americans from across the community involved, but everyone's welcome. Well, maybe not the Urbana school board. Pioletti said he and Bruno had talked about the idea in the past, but the school board decision prompted them to action. Pioletti is a third-generation Italian-American whose uncle was a monsignor in St. Paul, Minnesotta, where he was in charge of the Christopher Columbus Society, so Pioletti has the blood and the connections to pull it off.
"We were caught off-guard by the decision. Nobody knew until it happened. I don't understand," Pioletti said. "It was our one holiday, one day a year where we could celebrate our Italian blood. Now we'll just do it on our own." ....
Phil Bloomer is a News-Gazette staff writer. His columns run on Mondays. He can be reached by e-mail at bloomernews-gazette.com
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