Saturday, October 14, 2006
Marianne Peri Sack
Objects to St. Louis Post Dispatch Report on Columbus Day Parade
The
ANNOTICO Report
Reminds me of the Song: "What's Truth got to do with it”
???? (Oh yes, it was Love, wasn't it/ OK), But you get the Point,
don't you????
What is Also disconcerting is the IGNORANCE of Italian
Americans about their OWN
HISTORY!!!!!
YOU Can NOT Protect your Culture from Attack if you Do
Not have the INTELLECTUAL Ammunition!! TEACH YOUR KIDS Our
ITALIAN Heritage!!!!! The Language is Not Sufficient!!!!!!
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Letters to the Editor
October
12, 2006
Attn: Jamie
Riley
Dear Ms. Riley,
As an organizer of the St. Louis Columbus Day
Corporation, I was interviewed at the park after the Columbus Day Parade by your
reporter Aisha Sultan. Her questions made it obvious that she had her own
agenda that was not in keeping with what this event meant in the eyes of the
Italian population in the metropolitan
area.
The article referred to the harm he caused the American Indians, questioned his
Italian heritage and the worse insult was when she quoted an activist who said,
Having native people celebrate Columbus Day is like asking Americans to
celebrate Osama bin Laden Day.
Her article mentioned nothing about our honorees. For example; Grand
Marshall Dominic Galati, an award winning restaurateur who shares his time and
talent with the community; Spirit of Columbus Award winner Joe Barbaglia, a local businessman who is deeply involved in
St. Ambrose Church and active in sports programs, especially for children; Miss
Italian St. Louis Julie Ronzio, maids of honor Filomena Di Martino and Melissa
Fields, all lovely young ladies who are intelligent and work on community
projects.
The colorful floats, the aroma and taste of delicious food, happy music,
pride in our heritage, the warmth of old friends embracing were all
missed. Unfortunately, Ms. Sultan missed the
boat.
As a footnote, the famous statue of
Sincerely,
English
Editor of the
e-mail mperisack@sbcglobal
ORIGINAL ARTICLE BELOW:
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Columbus Day on the Hill
By Aisha Sultan
St. Louis Post Dispatch
October 8,2006
Old Christopher Columbus was missing again from his parade on the Hill Sunday.
For years, an elder Italian-American donned the Spanish sailing costume and
rode a 700-pound model of the
Organizers say about four years ago, the gentleman retired because of old age
and moved out to Wentzville. ("That is the
The ship was chopped up for scrap wood.
"I've been trying to get a
Although
For decades, the annual event in this neighborhood has been about celebrating
the Italian culture in all its glory - homemade pasta, friends at a barbecue
and bocce ball with the relatives. The parade is known in younger circles for
the abundance of candy showered upon little ones scrambling in the streets to
fill their plastic bags.
But the image of the guy behind the parade has changed since 1867 when it was
first celebrated. Some cities and states even refuse to recognize the federal
holiday because of the harm to American Indians that began with the European
discovery of the
Activist and poet Jo! hn Trudell reportedly offered an American Indian perspective
at a past celebration in
But Sunday's celebration was free of any such controversies. In fact, many
attending could scarcely recall the explorer's role in history.
"Didn't he go out to the West and map out that area? No, that was Lewis
and Clark," said 13-year-old Megan Rafferty. Karly
Wroten, 14, added her limited knowledge: "In
social studies, they told me he didn't discover
Even among the adults, many repeated what they remembered from grade school:
"I want to say the East Coast," said Nino Tallo,
24. Actually, it was in the
Even those who had sinc! e
learned more about
"I wouldn't come here so much for him, but for the tradition of the parade
and the Hill," said Erica Marino, 25, of
"But then, I'm sitting here," she added.
Even the U.S. Department of State Web site says
Even his Italian background has been questioned. A team of geneticists is
collecting DNA samples to determine whether he might actually be from
The government Web site says
Historian Chris Gordon of
"I believe Christopher Columbus represents opportunity in the
Those honoring the man Sunday spoke about his courage and vision and took pride
in his likely Italian background. A longtime Hill resident and local teacher
said the myth of the man is comforting.
"That's what I've believe my whole life. Might as well keep believing it,
even if it is a little bit fantasy," he said.
asultan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8300
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/
stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/F57CD139699
A5FEF862572020016F615?OpenDocument
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