NYC’s Italian Heritage Day (formerly Columbus Day) celebrates Italian contributions to the culture of New York City and America. And there’s a lot. Many Americans follow an Italian religion. Italian food has become American food.
Italian Heritage Day 2023
Italian Heritage Day is Monday, October 9, 2023. 🇮🇹
Latin Culture Was Originally Italian
Italian culture is core to who we are as Latins, New Yorkers, and Americans. Italian contributions to European culture, American culture and World culture cannot be understated.
Two of the civilizations that define European and World culture, the Roman Empire (27BC – 476CE) and The Renaissance (ca 1420-1600s), were Italian. The third important civilization was Islamic Spain (711-1492), but that’s another story.
During peak Italian migration (1880-1920), rich Italians went to Argentina and poor ones came to New York City. The Italian Diaspora is the majority in Argentina. 🇦🇷
Italian American immigrants faced the same White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) form of racism as New York’s previous Jewish, African, and Irish communities, and later Puerto Rican community.
Yet Italian food has become American food. Italian Americans have crossed over from “others” to just “Americans.” The Columbus Day tradition was part of making that shift. 🇺🇸