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Italian Americans Unite to Hold Press Conference to Denounce Unequal Treatment by New York City DOE

Restore Columbus Day to NYC School Calendar

BLOOMFIELD, NJ, USA, May 10, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Italian American One Voice Coalition (“IAOVC”), America’s largest independent Italian American anti-bias organization, is joining with dozens of Italian American organizations at an Italian American Civil Rights press conference to denounce New York City Department of Education’s (“NYC DOE”) elimination of Columbus Day. The event is slated for Wednesday, May 12 at 11 AM at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

“The arbitrary and capricious decision to remove Columbus Day from the NYC school calendar in a cloak and dagger fashion, denigrates Italian American school children and can not be tolerated,” stated Dr. Manny Alfano, Founder and President of IAOVC. “The NYC DOE decision violates the spirit of diversity and inclusion. Our organizations are united and will stand shoulder to shoulder with NYC parents and students to ensure their civil rights are respected."

IAOVC joins with the Columbus Heritage Coalition, Comission for Social Justice, Columbus Citizens Foundation, Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, Order Sons of Italy, UNICO National, Italian Sons and Daughters of America and many other Italian American organizations to demand Mayor De Blasio and the NYC DOE restore Columbus Day to the school calendar.

According to media outlets, the NYC DOE decision was met with severe backlash from parents, students and the Italian American community. The uproar caused the NYC DOE to hastily backtrack on their decision and change it to Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous People’s Day after renaming Columbus Day to only Indigenous Peoples Day. The Italian American community rejects this knee-jerk reaction to placate their outrage and demands the holiday be restored as Columbus Day.

The Italian American Civil Rights press conference will be one of many actions taken until the NYC DOE reverses its’ decision and reinstates Columbus Day on the school calendar. In addition, the Italian American community has assembled a legal group to address the social inequity caused by this decision and to hold all those accountable for targeting Italian American children in NYC. "Our organizations have already filed federal lawsuits in other parts of the country to defend Italian American civil rights, and New York may join that list," said Andre DiMino, Executive Board member of IAOVC.

“We commend and thank NY State Senator Andrew Lanza for introducing a bill to reclaim Columbus Day on the NYC DOE school calendar. All representatives should also be taking appropriate action to combat City sanctioned racism that targets Italian Americans in the NYC school system, “continued DiMino. IAOVC notes that there is no other ethnic group in NYC being subjected to such unequal treatment and misuse of government authority. IAOVC has stated on several occasions that there is no legitimate government objective in removing, renaming or combining Columbus Day with another holiday. “Combining our ethnic holiday with another only dilutes our culture making our contributions to NYC insignificant. That is anything but inclusionary.”

IAOVC is different from all other Italian American organizations in that its sole focus and objective is to foster education to fight bias, stereotyping and discrimination against Italian Americans. IAOVC is an IRS-Registered 501(c)3 non-profit.

IAOVC issues a regular email newsletter, “The Alfano Digest,” to more than 5,000 individuals and Italian American organizations nationwide. Written and compiled by Dr. Manny Alfano, Founder and President of IAOVC, the Digest issues alerts on instances of bias, stereotyping, discrimination and defamation and activates the IAOVC nationwide network of “Defenders” who respond through calls, emails, faxes, letters and demonstrations where necessary. The Digest contains informative and educational Italian American cultural and heritage information. To receive the Digest, email Dr. Alfano - mannyalfano@comcast.net.

Visit Italian American One Voice Coalition on social media: Facebook and Twitter

To support IAOVC’s efforts at defending and educating about Columbus and Italian American civil rights visit iaovc.org/donate.

Andre DiMino
Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition
+1 844-862-8623
info@iaovc.org
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