Acting Mayor Kim Janey today signed an executive order declaring the second Monday of every October as Indigenous Peoples Day, to honor the people whose genocide began with the voyages of the day's previous honoree, Christopher Columbus.
With Boston’s long history comes an opportunity and obligation to acknowledge the difficult parts of our past and dedicate ourselves to fostering a more equitable City. Observing Indigenous Peoples Day is about replacing the colonial myths passed down from generation to generation with the true history of the land upon which our nation was founded.
City Councilor and state Senate candidate Lydia Edwards, who represents the North End and East Boston, which together make up the city's largest concentration of Italian-Americans declared herself outraged and caught by surprise.
I don't believe it encourages the honest, transparent, healing conversation we need. We should absolutely honor and celebrate indigenous people as a city. Boston will forever celebrate, honor and acknowledge Italian Americans. With the right conversation, led by our new mayor, that recognizes the urgency of the moment we as a community will do both.
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Why don't Irish have a
By Refugee
Wed, 10/06/2021 - 10:44pm
Evacuation Day.
Martin Luther [sub]King Jr.[/sub] Day?
Festivus !!
The coincidence of Evacuation Day with St. Patrick's Day is
By necturus
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 7:29am
...just that: a coincidence. Moreover, Evacuation Day, like Bunker Hill Day, is only a holiday in Suffolk County. The rest of the country ignores it.
At least Patriots' Day is shared by the state of Maine (although Mainers appear to celebrate only one patriot, as they spell it "Patriot's Day").
Not “just” a coincidence
By Irma la Douce
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 8:51am
A very convenient coincidence for the Irish-American political class to curry favor with their enormous Irish-American constituency.
From Wikipedia:
Probably because...
By lbb
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 9:14am
Probably because, at that time, Maine didn't exist. It was part of Massachusetts.
Oh yes a coincidence! Totally
By Matt Frank
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 11:21am
Oh yes a coincidence! Totally has nothing to do with the by then twenty year old Saint Patrick's Day parade and huge Irish population boom.
It was a convenient way to tip a hat to people like my great grand parents without upsetting the upper classes at the time or stepping on the whole religious aspect of Patrick being a saint "no no no, it's a revolutionary war thing... Yes I know we have Patriots Day and Bunker Hill Day and yes the 4th of July..."
It also helps that the Irish are generally not the biggest fans of England as a country so selling them on using Evacuation Day as a cover most likely wasn't that hard.
Poles
By Rugosa
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 7:04am
Kościuszko Day!
So excited for Lydia's election
By anon
Wed, 10/06/2021 - 9:20pm
So that I can vote against her.
I've been in community spaces with her in East Boston and at one point respected the way she worked with people, but not anymore. The outright pandering to an already over-represented group of very privileged people is the last straw.
I used to like her as well,
By anon
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 3:39pm
I used to like her as well, and while I'm not quite ready to write her off yet, I'm definitely cooling to her over stuff like this.
It whiffs of pandering at any cost instead of following an interior moral compass.
And look, if she took the politico route and said "While I personally may not like it, this is what my constituents want me to say so I'll say it for them as their elected representative," I could respect that.
Instead I just cringed myself inside-out.
Acting Mayor Janey, please go
By anon
Thu, 10/07/2021 - 7:02am
Acting Mayor Janey, please go gently into that good night.
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