Philadelphia commemorates Indigenous Peoples Day, keeps Columbus statue covered
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The City of Philadelphia on Monday commemorated Indigenous Peoples Day. Philadelphia has tried to reframe the annual celebration and no longer recognizes the day as Columbus Day but rather Indigenous Peoples Day.
At Penn Treaty Park in Fishtown, the celebration for Indigenous Peoples Day kicked off around noon.
There are vendors, children on field trips and several other members of the community.
Organizers say they want Monday to be a reminder of this country's history and the contributions of Indigenous peoples.
Last year, Mayor Jim Kenney declared that the holiday, formerly called Columbus Day, would be known as Indigenous Peoples Day in Philadelphia.
"It's still relatively new, I think, to some people, even though it's not to us, but to others," Jeanie Hill at Penn Treaty Park said. "But the more we get out and, you know, have the community sort of observe, you know, and participate in activities such as this I think it's good for future healing."
What's getting a lot of attention in South Philadelphia is the new look of the plywood box hiding the controversial statue of Christopher Columbus.
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding this statue. A box has been covering it for about two and a half years now, but it now does look a little different.
According to reports, city officials painted it in red, white and green in support of Italian heritage.
City officials say the paint job was done at the request of district Councilman Mark Squilla.
"When we looked to try and paint the box here, there was graffiti on it, it was blighted," Squilla said, "and we said, you know can we just cover the graffiti up from that box?"
The future of the statue is a toss-up and remains at the center of a legal battle between the city and the Friends of Marconi Plaza.
The statue became a hotspot in 2020 as protests began in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
The city wants to remove the 145-year-old statue, but some Italian Americans want it to stay. They see the statue as a source of pride, while opponents call it a divisive reminder of the past.
Residents call the new look of the box "middle ground."
"I looked at it, couple days ago, and this is so sad," Joe Civitillo, a South Philadelphia resident, said. "Just to see this boarded-up thing. I'm Italian American and I am proud of that. There is things people don't like about Christopher Columbus, but that's in the past. But this was a good compromise to put the flag up."
"We always celebrated Columbus as the man who discovered America," Rob Pino in South Philadelphia said. "I know there's claims that he did a lot of things with Native Americans and they probably could be true, but that's not what we celebrate here. We celebrate the fact he did discover America and he's a flawed human being just like the rest of us."
Other residents say that the box was put up for a reason and that the box is just further fueling division in a diversifying neighborhood.
Squilla contends the city created unnecessary tension when declaring the day Indigenous Peoples Day
"Why would you take that day away from a group of people and then give it to another group of people," Squilla said, "and to think that elect officials think that's OK to do is really insulting."