Philly Councilman Mark Squilla and Italian American groups sued Mayor Kenney for renaming Columbus Day
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Philadelphia City Councilmember Mark Squilla and dozens of Italian American groups are suing Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration in federal court for changing the name of the city’s Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
“While both groups’ ethnicity deserve recognition, Mayor Kenney may not take action that discriminates against Italian Americans to exalt another ethnic group in its place,” said the suit, which was filed Tuesday in U.S. district court by Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto.
The suit alleges that Kenney’s executive order this year renaming the October holiday fits a pattern of discrimination by the mayor, a South Philadelphia native of Irish descent, against his Italian American constituents. In alleging that pattern, the suit cites last year’s removal of the statue of former mayor and police commissioner Frank L. Rizzo outside the Municipal Services Building after it became a target for protests against police brutality.
It also contends that the city discriminated against Italian Americans by not including South Philadelphia’s 19148 ZIP code in its list of prioritized neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccine distribution. The city has said it prioritized vaccine outreach to areas and demographic groups with low vaccination rates, and there is no evidence the Kenney administration intentionally excluded Italian Americans.
“The canceling of Columbus Day is the most recent — but probably not the last — act in a long line of divisive, anti-Italian American discriminatory actions taken by Mayor Kenney during his Administration,” the suit said. It asks the court to void Kenney’s executive order, declare Italian Americans “a protected class entitled to Equal Protection under the U.S. Constitution,” and to have the city pay plaintiffs’ attorneys fees.
The suit also cites the city’s efforts to remove the Christopher Columbus statute from Marconi Plaza. After the Rizzo statue was removed, defenders of Columbus amassed at the statue, which in turn drew protesters. The groups clashed for days before the city encased the statue in wood and announced plans to seek to remove it through a still-ongoing process with the city’s Art Commission.
Kenney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Squilla, who represents the eastern half of South Philadelphia and parts of Center City, is the only Italian American who holds a city elected office. Fifteen years ago, Council included Frank DiCicco, Rick Mariano, and Frank L. Rizzo Jr., the late mayor’s son, and was led by Council President Anna C. Verna.
In recent years, dozens of cities across the country have changed the holiday’s official name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, citing Columbus’ racist views and the beginning of the genocide against Native Americans that began with his 1492 journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
Kenney said earlier this year that his order renaming Columbus Day, which also recognized the Juneteenth holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, was “an acknowledgment of the centuries of institutional racism and marginalization that have been forced upon Black Americans, Indigenous people, and other communities of color.
This is a developing story and will be updated.