New state bill would replace Columbus Day with Colorado Day
A new bill in the Colorado legislature aims to put an end to Columbus Day as a holiday in the state of Colorado.
Supporters of HB19-1165 say Christopher Columbus committed terrible acts and genocide, and shouldn’t be celebrated.
This is the fourth bill of its kind in the state, the first three were voted down. The city of Denver has already gotten rid of the holiday.
The bill would replace Columbus Day with Colorado Day on the first Monday of August.
Every Oct. 8, people in Pueblo come out in either in support or against the holiday. Some consider the city to be the birthplace of Columbus Day. Protesters congregate in front of the Columbus Statue on Abriendo Avenue alongside events celebrating the holiday.
The bill introduced on Friday would aim to get rid of all of that.
“Every year we’ve noticed we are getting a little closer and a little closer and the bill gets a little further in the legislature,” said Rita J. Martinez, an organizer with the group Abolish Columbus Day in Pueblo.
Martinez has been protesting the controversial holiday for nearly 27 years. When she first started, she never thought it would be this difficult to end the holiday.
However, she says these protests and this new bill aren’t about putting down Italians in Colorado.
“This is about the person, Columbus,” said Martinez. “He shouldn’t be honored. We equate this holiday to Hitler day. There would never ever be a Hitler day.”
However, the Sons of Italy in Pueblo are concerned. They view this bill as a way to put down Italians in the state.
“We do not in any way shape or form support the degradation and dismantling of an existing heritage or cultural celebratory event,” said Jerry Carleo, a spokesman for the Son’s of Italy in Pueblo. “This holiday has been a part of the tradition in Colorado since the early 1900s.”
Carleo says these celebrations are about embracing not just Italians but different peoples in this country.
“We recognize that Columbus Day is the result of an opportunity for all the immigrants to recognize their value to this nation,” said Carleo.
He believes the if the state wants to adopt new holidays like Colorado Day or Indigenous Peoples Day then he is all for it. However, they shouldn’t take away a holiday celebrating his Italian heritage.
Even if the bill passed, Carleo says the celebrations on Oct. 8. in Pueblo will not end.
KRDO spoke with Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, a Democrat from Adams County and a sponsor of this bill. She says the bill will be voted on this Thursday by the State Affairs Committee, and she fully expects this bill to pass onto the house.
Martinez believes this is the bill that will go the furthest out of the four. She believes the Colorado State House will pass it, and hopes it passes the state Senate.
