Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray's Costin's video.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back everyone. I will bet you that
Speaker 2: some of you had a holiday today. If you work
Speaker 2: for the federal government, I found out the post office
Speaker 2: was closed, went to mail a couple of letters. If
Speaker 2: you work for the state, it's a holiday here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: Is Christopher Columbus Day. Nationally? Is Christopher Columbus Day here
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts. Although there's a lot of people who don't
Speaker 2: think it should be Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus Day. I
Speaker 2: like Christopher Columbus Day. As you know, I'm not Italian,
Speaker 2: but I feel it's it's a holiday that we've celebrated
Speaker 2: for many, many years with us. Is State Representative Jeff Turco.
Speaker 2: Jeff is from for those of you who are keeping
Speaker 2: score from you, Winthrop and you have a little bit
Speaker 2: of Revere maybe as well, Jeff, if I'm not mistaken, I.
Speaker 3: Do, damn. I have a little forty percent of the
Speaker 3: city of Revia in all of my childhood, in all
Speaker 3: of Winthrops and.
Speaker 4: All of Winthrop.
Speaker 2: And I know that you celebrated a holiday today. Tell
Speaker 2: us what you did today?
Speaker 3: Can I say it in public? Dear? I hope, so
Speaker 3: happy Columbus Day. I say to you, this is it's
Speaker 3: been a federally recognized and state recognized holidays since at
Speaker 3: least I believe, in nineteen thirty seven. First recognized in
Speaker 3: this country in eighteen ninety two in response to the
Speaker 3: largest single day lynching of Americans in the history of
Speaker 3: this country in New Orleans in eighteen ninety one, when
Speaker 3: eleven Sicilian Americans are brutally murdered because they were Sicilian.
Speaker 3: And that's where the tradition of recognizing Columbus Date comes from.
Speaker 3: And I'm proud to support it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I wish you were happy on Columbus Date
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 2: I had many friends and many listeners in the show
Speaker 2: proud supporters of Columbus Day. When we talked earlier today,
Speaker 2: I thought you made a great point and that, uh,
Speaker 2: there's plenty of room in the calendar for other other days,
Speaker 2: and there's no reason that we cannot also have a
Speaker 2: day celebrating indigenous people. But it doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 2: be the second Monday or whatever the designation is. When
Speaker 2: when you and I were growing up, it was always
Speaker 2: October twelfth because that was Columbus's birthday.
Speaker 4: Correct me if I'm wrong on that one, but I
Speaker 4: believe I'm correct.
Speaker 3: Yep, yes, sir, And yeah.
Speaker 2: What do you think there almost seems to be like
Speaker 2: a group of folks who not only want Indigenous People's Day,
Speaker 2: but they want to make sure it's on what what
Speaker 2: what would have been?
Speaker 4: Or what would yeah, would have been Columbus Day?
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, well that's it the end. I mean, this
Speaker 3: is like you have to look at Yeah, I'm sure
Speaker 3: there are some people of good motive, but you have
Speaker 3: to look at the underlying motive behind this. I mean,
Speaker 3: these people are not proposed to replace Columbus with Vespucci
Speaker 3: Day or of Arizona Day. You know, they're simply looking
Speaker 3: to pit one ethnic group against another group. And it's
Speaker 3: just really is beyond the pale upsetting. You know, the
Speaker 3: United Nations recognizes Indigenous People Day on August ninth. It's
Speaker 3: the only month of the year we don't have a holiday.
Speaker 3: If people wanted to recognize Indigenous people, they can easily
Speaker 3: go to August ninth. But this is there's something more
Speaker 3: sinister behind this effort, and that effort really is let's
Speaker 3: wipe Italian people off the face of the calendar and
Speaker 3: that's the path that's so difficult to swallow. That people
Speaker 3: don't know the history. They're blinded by the lack of
Speaker 3: education of why we celebrate Columbus Day and why it
Speaker 3: means so much to people of Italian American descent in
Speaker 3: the United States. And that's why many of us are
Speaker 3: fighting to educate people and talk about the eleven Sicilian
Speaker 3: Americans who were killed, and why did President Harrison and
Speaker 3: why did President Roosevelt make the decision to recognize Columbus
Speaker 3: Day in this country? And why is it the law
Speaker 3: of land now? I mean the you know these communities
Speaker 3: that ignore the law. I mean the city of Boston
Speaker 3: and Cambridge and Newton sort of, they're like the modern
Speaker 3: day election deny is instead of denying election results, they
Speaker 3: deny the law, the Carmelwaalth and law of the United States,
Speaker 3: and say, oh, we disagree with the law, so we're
Speaker 3: going to ignore it. And it really is just it's offensive.
Speaker 2: Interesting point are the efforts at the legislature to replace
Speaker 2: Columbus Day. I mean, it is at this point a
Speaker 2: Massachusetts state holiday. Massachusetts state. I don't believe the state
Speaker 2: State House was open and functioning today. I know the
Speaker 2: federal government wasn't open and functioning post offices were closed.
Speaker 2: Is there a there has to be some members of
Speaker 2: the legislature who would like to change the celebration today
Speaker 2: from Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, are you? I mean, there's definitely there's a
Speaker 3: move afoot. It's been for a number of years. People
Speaker 3: that you know, have filed legislation to get rid of
Speaker 3: Columbus Day, to stop recognizing the contributions of Italian Americans,
Speaker 3: to call Indigenous People Day. And fortunately that bill has
Speaker 3: it's all, it's come out of committee the last couple
Speaker 3: of years, but it's never gotten beyond that process. And
Speaker 3: I think that's the feeling amongst a lot of legislators
Speaker 3: that you know, enough is enough to all cancel culture,
Speaker 3: applying today's standards to the standards of hundreds of years ago,
Speaker 3: you know, as well as your kid. Really, the sadness
Speaker 3: in the year twenty twenty four to be pit trying
Speaker 3: to pit Italian Americans against Indigenous people is just quite
Speaker 3: an affront to all, to both groups.
Speaker 2: Really, what I want to do is I want to
Speaker 2: take a break, Jeff. I'd like to have you stay
Speaker 2: with us and invite people to call. There has to
Speaker 2: be a way in which both groups can be reconciled
Speaker 2: here and that there can be a celebration of both groups.
Speaker 2: And it would seem to me that the easiest and
Speaker 2: the cleanest solution would be to maintain Columbus Day as
Speaker 2: it has been holiday for nearly one hundred years, and
Speaker 2: then add something to the calendar you mentioned August ninth.
Speaker 2: There may be other proposals out there, but again, I
Speaker 2: don't like this idea about one group has to win
Speaker 2: and one group has to lose a day that they've
Speaker 2: celebrated for decades. I don't have I don't happen to
Speaker 2: be either an indigenous person or an Italian American, although
Speaker 2: my children a twenty five percent Italian American. And let's
Speaker 2: let's see what people have to say. I do think, Jeff,
Speaker 2: you just made a point that resonated with me, and
Speaker 2: that is that it seems to me that the fervor
Speaker 2: to replace Columbus Day has diminished in the last two
Speaker 2: or three years.
Speaker 4: And I think that's a good sign.
Speaker 2: And now if people can reach out and come to
Speaker 2: an agreement where both groups do not feel diminished in
Speaker 2: any way and both groups are given due recognition. I
Speaker 2: think that's the way to go. Uh, we'll see what
Speaker 2: our listeners think. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten
Speaker 2: thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. My
Speaker 2: guest is State Representative Jeff Turco. He's a Democrat in
Speaker 2: the legislature. He represents forty percent of the city of
Speaker 2: Revere as well as the town of Winthrop. And we'll
Speaker 2: be back with phone calls in more conversation, and I'll
Speaker 2: give you a little bit of a sense of how
Speaker 2: both of these days were celebrated. WBZ covered Columbus Day
Speaker 2: celebrations as well as as as an Indigenous People Day
Speaker 2: celebration as well.
Speaker 4: We'll be back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: This was one of the Columbus Day reports filed today
Speaker 2: by Kyle Shaffle of the WBZ. Kyle Chef Hio Okay,
Speaker 2: Hio okay, Hile Schaffle Okay. I wasn't sure that pronunciation.
Speaker 2: This is cut number twenty six.
Speaker 5: It's become a sensitive cultural nerve. They didn't want Columbus
Speaker 5: to even exist.
Speaker 4: But US Italians, you know, he means a lot to us.
Speaker 5: The opposition to Columbus Day and the push to rename
Speaker 5: it as Indigenous People's Day has gained steam in recent years,
Speaker 5: but in Boston, Columbus still has his champions.
Speaker 2: It's bravery against the unknown to set sail across the void.
Speaker 4: Basically at that point.
Speaker 5: Mark was wearing an honest to goodness Christopher Columbus outfit
Speaker 5: he bought online. The Italian Americans have seen the day
Speaker 5: as a celebration of their heritage since the late eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 5: That's why the Italian American Alliance is holding this event
Speaker 5: here in East.
Speaker 2: The grades were stopped in the north there in East Boshington,
Speaker 2: so we didn't want the tradition to disappear.
Speaker 5: For many here, Columbus and Italian heritage is still a
Speaker 5: point of prime.
Speaker 2: I tell people we have Columbus Leonardo da Vinci Volentino.
Speaker 5: Style Schaffele w busy Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: Well, right back again with state Representative Jeff Turco. Jeff,
Speaker 2: let's see what our listeners think about this. You very
Speaker 2: clearly want to maintain Columbus Day, which I understand, but
Speaker 2: you would not be opposed to supporting a piece of
Speaker 2: legislation which would add to the Massachusetts holiday calendar a
Speaker 2: day recognizing the contribution of Indigenous Americans and their ancestors.
Speaker 3: Correct. Correct, and in fact, just to prove the hypocrisy
Speaker 3: of the people against Coumbus Day, I intend to file
Speaker 3: legislation and the next legis session to name August ninth
Speaker 3: as Indigenous People Day in the Commonwealth and to recognize
Speaker 3: the contributions of Indigenous and Native American people. I'm going
Speaker 3: to say, you can do that without attacking the Italian people.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Great, When you do that, let me know and we'll
Speaker 2: do some We'll support you on that, because again I
Speaker 2: appreciate them.
Speaker 3: We're definitely gonna do that in January in the next
Speaker 3: filing session.
Speaker 2: Well, then you can count on it. You let me know.
Speaker 2: In the meantime, let's go to phone call. It's going
Speaker 2: to go start it off tonight with our friend Karen
Speaker 2: in Wisconsin. Karen, you are first on night side with
Speaker 2: Jeff Turco, SAT representative here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 6: Go ahead, Karen, Hi, Jeff. Dan actually actually and probably
Speaker 6: calling off topic because I heard Dan say what did
Speaker 6: you do for the holiday? And so I picked up
Speaker 6: the phone call before.
Speaker 2: Okay, so what you call. Took the time to go,
Speaker 2: what what did you celebrate today?
Speaker 6: Well, I didn't realize it was actually holiday all day
Speaker 6: until I just got a message and somebody said Happy
Speaker 6: Indigenous People's Day to me, and which I wrote back, well,
Speaker 6: and she gave me good news and I just wrote
Speaker 6: back yippie for you. But I love Indians and out
Speaker 6: here I was brought up with Indian, you know, with Indians,
Speaker 6: and I didn't mean to. Then I realized it was
Speaker 6: all political, and so my call doesn't really fit in.
Speaker 2: With Well, I'm glad you called. Nonetheless, always good to
Speaker 2: hear your Voicecaren. We will talk later on maybe Okay,
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 6: I'm sorry. I clearly I am for both. Actually I
Speaker 6: would like to see Columbus day stay and then another day.
Speaker 4: That's exactly what my guess is talking about.
Speaker 6: I did hear it all, so nice to stand. I'll
Speaker 6: give you. Okay, thank you.
Speaker 2: Let me go to Stephen Camp. Steve, hopefully you've called
Speaker 2: in on topic.
Speaker 3: Run ahead, Steve, I'll try.
Speaker 7: I don't think you. I think you underestimate the animosity
Speaker 7: aimed at Columbus. I mean people at universities and probably
Speaker 7: throughout the country. They despise Columbus. They feel he's a criminal,
Speaker 7: and they feel pretty much that way about much of
Speaker 7: our Western civilization and our country and our founders and
Speaker 7: our presidents. I mean, I think the sixteen nineteen project
Speaker 7: that has been promoted by the New York Times. They
Speaker 7: hate Columbus, they hate our background, our history, and so
Speaker 7: I don't think it's simply a matter of having one
Speaker 7: day for indigenous peoples in another day.
Speaker 2: I don't know how they're going to respond to that,
Speaker 2: and I want to get Jeff involved here, but as
Speaker 2: far as I'm concerned, there's always going to be an
Speaker 2: element in a free country that that hates the genesis
Speaker 2: of the country and is gonna They're going to deny
Speaker 2: that that we are a country that that's founded on
Speaker 2: Western principles and that the Judeo Christian ethic was very
Speaker 2: much uh uh. Through all of our founding documents, they
Speaker 2: will find denial there, and they'll find some comment that
Speaker 2: Thomas Jefferson made in a letter to someone about separation
Speaker 2: church and state, and they can go off in whatever
Speaker 2: direction they want. But I think the vast majority of
Speaker 2: Americans would agree with Jeff and me and probably you.
Speaker 2: Jeff just get in here and respond to what I think.
Speaker 2: I do think that uh, that that Steve has identified
Speaker 2: an element to people who really have an animus towards
Speaker 2: anything that happened before they were born.
Speaker 4: To be really honesty, they go ahead.
Speaker 3: Jeff No, I think see hit They hit it right
Speaker 3: on the head. And coming from Cambridge, I'd refer back
Speaker 3: to MI, I t when they're not when they're not
Speaker 3: doing everything they can to discriminate against Jewish students, in
Speaker 3: Jewish people in general, in supporting you know, anti Semitic
Speaker 3: attacks on those students on campus and doing nothing to
Speaker 3: protect them. They turn around and they say, well, we
Speaker 3: don't recognize Columbus Day, we recognize Indigenous People Day. And
Speaker 3: I say to mit, well, when do you give back
Speaker 3: to the land to the tribes that owned it, and
Speaker 3: maybe you can sign a lease and give them money,
Speaker 3: do something of substance that will improve the quality of
Speaker 3: life for people, because because they want to go out
Speaker 3: and start protests like we rarely care about these people,
Speaker 3: so we want to change the name of a holiday,
Speaker 3: but we don't want to do anything to improve their
Speaker 3: lot in life. And and so I think that goes
Speaker 3: to there really is an underlying anger amongst a lodge group,
Speaker 3: not everyone, but a lodge group of the people that
Speaker 3: support this change. Anything that's pro American and pro American
Speaker 3: history somehow is bad and somehow needs to be brought
Speaker 3: down and destroyed. And it's really tragic.
Speaker 2: Steve, you mentioned that I think you're referring to me
Speaker 2: is that I might have under estimated it. My sense
Speaker 2: is that the fervor to eliminate Columbus Day has somewhat
Speaker 2: diminished in the last couple of years.
Speaker 4: You don't see it that way.
Speaker 8: Steve Dan, I really don't know.
Speaker 7: I just can't. I hope it has, but I mean
Speaker 7: when you think that the statue of Columbus was decapitated
Speaker 7: and the city of Boston didn't do anything about that,
Speaker 7: did not replace the statue in the North End, and
Speaker 7: so many of our leaders and so many of the
Speaker 7: persons who are responsible for the greatness of our nation
Speaker 7: have been demeaned. I hope it's changing, but I don't
Speaker 7: think it will.
Speaker 4: Well, we'll see, by the way I think the statute,
Speaker 4: correct me if I'm wrong here.
Speaker 2: That was the statue that was in Christopher Columbus Park
Speaker 2: down on the waterfront on Atlantic Avenue and the statue
Speaker 2: was after it was decapitated, it was put for safe
Speaker 2: keeping by then Mayor Walsh, and I believe the statue
Speaker 2: is now in a church courtyard in the North End.
Speaker 2: Am i am I If anyone knows this for sure,
Speaker 2: I'd love to know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can tell you, yes, you're you're exactly was
Speaker 3: in Christopher Columbus Park in the North End off of
Speaker 3: Hanover and the criminal element went damage and broke the
Speaker 3: decapitated the statue. Rather than a statue, rather than prosecuting people,
Speaker 3: they just said, well, we'll hide the statue. But a
Speaker 3: brave Catholic priest at Saint Leonard's Church they have a
Speaker 3: peace garden there and they put it. In fact, I
Speaker 3: posted a picture of that statue in the peace garden
Speaker 3: on Facebook today when I posted my pro Columbus message
Speaker 3: talking about the history of why we celebrate Columbus Day.
Speaker 3: So there are good people that have said, you know,
Speaker 3: we're going to recognize the attributions of Columbus and Italian Americans.
Speaker 3: And he stands proudly in the peace gotten right on
Speaker 3: handle the Street in the North End where he belongs.
Speaker 7: And Jeff, there's a there's a biography I believe of
Speaker 7: Columbus by an historian, a Harvard historian named Samuel Elliott Morrison.
Speaker 7: And you know, of all the navigators in the history
Speaker 7: in history, Columbus's ability to navigate and his bravery were
Speaker 7: almost unequaled.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 2: By the way, there is also a statue of Samuel
Speaker 2: Elliott Morrison.
Speaker 4: In Boston.
Speaker 3: There is.
Speaker 7: It's right on that right outside of the public garden,
Speaker 7: you know, in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on that stretch between Arlington Street all the way
Speaker 2: out to Massachusetts Avenue.
Speaker 7: But there are so many things to admire about Columbus,
Speaker 7: and that for these people to detegrate him is when
Speaker 7: when they have it so easy, Uh, is really I
Speaker 7: find despicable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, well, we we've got some support here.
Speaker 4: Jeff.
Speaker 2: Okay, So, uh as always the very thoughtful call to
Speaker 2: night Side. You are one of my very best callers,
Speaker 2: and you've been so for many years and I always
Speaker 2: appreciate your contributions.
Speaker 7: You're too kind, Dan, Thank you, gentlemen, good taking call.
Speaker 2: Are going to take a quick break here. My guest
Speaker 2: is Jeff Turco. Jeff Representative, Jeff Turco Representative. Can you
Speaker 2: stay with us into the next half hour.
Speaker 3: Of course, good you.
Speaker 4: Get some more calls.
Speaker 2: We have a couple of open lines six one seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three ten thirty.
Speaker 2: We're talking about Christopher Columbus, uh celebration today and and
Speaker 2: uh we're talking with Representative Turco, who is a leading
Speaker 2: representative and an advocate for maintaining Columbus Day in the
Speaker 2: Massachusetts legislature. And by the way, it is a state
Speaker 2: holiday in Boston. I guess it was a stripped as
Speaker 2: a state holiday. I read in the paper today that
Speaker 2: Acting Mayor Kim Janey actually signed sort of an executive order.
Speaker 2: Doesn't sound very democratic to me, but signed some sort
Speaker 2: of an executive order ending the celebration of Columbus Day
Speaker 2: in Boston and substituting it with Indigenous People's Day. And again,
Speaker 2: I had no problem celebrating every group that contributed to America,
Speaker 2: including Christopher Columbus. And Jeff Turko, the representative here who's
Speaker 2: with us, is going to file legislation in January designating
Speaker 2: August ninth as Indigenous People's Day. And the reason of that, Jeff,
Speaker 2: Just for clarification for the audience that has just joined us.
Speaker 2: There is actually justification for what you're going to do there.
Speaker 2: And what is that The August.
Speaker 3: Ninth day, August ninth is Indigenous People Day according to
Speaker 3: the United Nations worldwide in August ninth, the month of
Speaker 3: August is also the only month of the year that
Speaker 3: Massachusetts does not have a recognized holiday. So you could
Speaker 3: you could have recognize the contributions of Native Americans and
Speaker 3: Indigenous people consistent with the UN calendar, but also to
Speaker 3: balance all holidays across across each month.
Speaker 4: Excellent, Okay, we'll take a quick break. It's nine thirty
Speaker 4: the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 2: Were going to get right to the newscast on time
Speaker 2: and we'll be back with State Representative Jeff Turkle of
Speaker 2: Revere and Wthrop. And if you live in either of
Speaker 2: those communities and you'd like to talk with forty percent
Speaker 2: of Revere, talk to your state representative. The only line
Speaker 2: that's open right now, there's one line at six, one, seven, nine, three, one,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. This is a Monday night, it is a holiday.
Speaker 2: What did you celebrate today? If you celebrated Indigenous People's Day,
Speaker 2: you're more than welcome to call and tell us what
Speaker 2: you did.
Speaker 4: Today we are we are.
Speaker 2: A program that welcomes all points of view, just to
Speaker 2: express them and be respective of my guests and other callers.
Speaker 4: That's all we ask. Coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray ONBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Massachusetts State Representative Jeff Turco, a Democrat
Speaker 2: member of the state legislature. He celebrated Columbus Day today
Speaker 2: and I'm sure there are a lot of other people
Speaker 2: around New England who did as well, and there were
Speaker 2: others who would prefer to have an Indigenous People's Day,
Speaker 2: and Jeff Turkle will file legislation next January to have
Speaker 2: an Indigenous People's Stay here in Massachusetts on August ninth,
Speaker 2: so that both groups can have their day to celebrate
Speaker 2: their heritage. I think that's a pretty smart solution to
Speaker 2: a problem which has really been a problem and a
Speaker 2: concern for several years now. But my way of thinking
Speaker 2: is that the level of intensity has minished. Let's go
Speaker 2: to Angelo, and Angelo welcome back to Night's Side. Say
Speaker 2: I had a state representative, Jeff Turco. Go right ahead, Angela.
Speaker 9: How you doing, Jeff Turco, Thank you for taking my call.
Speaker 1: Dain.
Speaker 9: You know, I was at the parade day and they
Speaker 9: were very to a lot of people that were very unhappy.
Speaker 9: The indiscate people put up a big sign saying that
Speaker 9: we were terrorists, and they were calling us all kinds
Speaker 9: of names. And there was a person that was in
Speaker 9: the parade and wanted to get out of their car
Speaker 9: and they wanted to destroy that sign. And it was
Speaker 9: very bad what they put down against us there. And
Speaker 9: it was all so there.
Speaker 2: Was a motorcade that was supporting Columbus Day, if I'm
Speaker 2: not mistaken, that rode through a part of Newton today
Speaker 2: and they and if I'm not mistaken, is that true?
Speaker 9: Right by the album playgrounds and all around through West
Speaker 9: Newton and then Donandam area.
Speaker 3: And what it was?
Speaker 2: Why were people objecting to you and in your friends
Speaker 2: celebrating Columbus on Umbus Day?
Speaker 4: It is a state holiday, it's a national holiday.
Speaker 2: What did they do know that you were going to
Speaker 2: be having a parade that you have to have a
Speaker 2: permit or something like that.
Speaker 9: I don't know if they had to have a permit,
Speaker 9: but they had to shareff in front of us, and
Speaker 9: I don't know if they had a permanent or not.
Speaker 2: So who are you confusing me. You're confusing me. Who
Speaker 2: were the people who were protesting your.
Speaker 9: Parade, the the the indigenous people.
Speaker 4: So so they just we were, we were there, We.
Speaker 9: Were in the parade going by where the Indigenous people were,
Speaker 9: and then they held up a big sign saying that
Speaker 9: we were terror us.
Speaker 4: Right right. Question, My question is was your parade in Newton?
Speaker 2: Is that an annual event? Was it announced publicly? Was
Speaker 2: there everybody knew where the parade was taking place?
Speaker 9: Is that it was Anne on the radio to where
Speaker 9: it was going to be held, and there was everybody
Speaker 9: that was very upset when they saw this.
Speaker 2: People in the comment Jeff, I don't I don't think
Speaker 2: Jeff was with you today. But Jeff, this seems to
Speaker 2: be I guess, some animosity in the city of Newton,
Speaker 2: which is always supposed to be a welcoming community.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, listen, there's there's You're always going to find radicals
Speaker 3: that they don't want to just promote their viewpoint of
Speaker 3: saying we want to we want indigenous people there. They
Speaker 3: want to insult people and attack people that disagree that
Speaker 3: Dane to disagree with them, And it sounds to me
Speaker 3: like that's what that sign was all about today. I mean,
Speaker 3: I am a free speech absolutist. I think people have
Speaker 3: the right to say objectionable things, and I think we
Speaker 3: kill them with kindness and we kill them with education.
Speaker 3: When I talk, I mean I spoke in Revere on
Speaker 3: Thursday at a ceremony at one hundred people there in public,
Speaker 3: was on TV, and I mentioned all eleven Sicilian Americans
Speaker 3: who were killed and talked about why we celebrate Columbus Day,
Speaker 3: and the number of people that came up and said
Speaker 3: thank you for for letting me know. I didn't know
Speaker 3: the history and the origins behind the holiday, and I
Speaker 3: think that that's critically important that we educate people as
Speaker 3: to why we celebrate Columbus Day. It's not about the man.
Speaker 3: It's about the contributions of Italian Americans, and it's to
Speaker 3: symbolize the contributions of all Italian Americans, not just that
Speaker 3: one man. And people don't know that today because they're
Speaker 3: either wilfully blind or the public education system has failed
Speaker 3: them by teaching propaganda instead of teaching facts.
Speaker 2: All right, appreciate it, Angelo, Thank you very much for
Speaker 2: your call, and always good to be always good to
Speaker 2: hear your voice, and Dan you.
Speaker 9: Were talking about the statue. The statue is I heard
Speaker 9: today they put it behind that that church.
Speaker 2: But I mentioned that Saint Leonard's on Hanover Street.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 9: Yeah, somebody told me that they put it back there
Speaker 9: and somebody fixed the head to it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well it's beautiful. It's in a beautiful spot. All
Speaker 3: it up and it's quite nice.
Speaker 9: Yeah, somebody told me today.
Speaker 4: Thanks, I'm in the North End. Make sure you go
Speaker 4: buy and give give a look. Angelo. Thank you very
Speaker 4: much for your call. Touch you soon.
Speaker 9: Thank you, guys. Have a good day, great day.
Speaker 4: Good night.
Speaker 2: Let me go next to Regina is in Boston. Regina,
Speaker 2: you are next on nice side with State Representative Jeff Turko.
Speaker 10: Go ahead, Regina, Hi, I'll make it real brief.
Speaker 11: I just hope you all all everyone have a good night.
Speaker 11: I have nieces, four of them that are half Native
Speaker 11: American and also half Italian. I love all of them.
Speaker 11: They're buy two family members, and I just want to
Speaker 11: say that people need to stop fighting no matter what,
Speaker 11: because all they're doing is making more issues for everybody.
Speaker 11: We never had an issue like that. We see each
Speaker 11: other because we're human, human beings that love each other,
Speaker 11: and you know there's good and bad in every background.
Speaker 11: So I think what he's going to do, they really
Speaker 11: need to move it back to the month of August
Speaker 11: and leave well enough alone and forward everything and try
Speaker 11: to get along with everybody. But have a good night.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much, thank you, Regina. Yeah, Clement
Speaker 2: on that. If you like Jeff, I think that she's
Speaker 2: pretty much where you are in terms of accommodating both
Speaker 2: camps here, okay, and hopefully everyone can walk away happy
Speaker 2: with a day dedicated to the celebration of their ancestry.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, And I think Regina hit it dead on.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm That's the needle that I'm trying to tread.
Speaker 3: I think we can accomplish recognizing and supporting everyone without
Speaker 3: attacking anyone by doing it the way I've suggested. I
Speaker 3: look forward to trying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, and I hope it gets out of committee.
Speaker 2: I should have asked you earlier. I'd be curious if
Speaker 2: you can't answer this question because of your status and
Speaker 2: the legislature. How to speak of Mariano feel about this,
Speaker 2: I would assume that he would probably have some concerns
Speaker 2: about protecting Columbus Day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't thing to speak for you
Speaker 3: for the speaker, But I mean I think here he
Speaker 3: is Italian American, and the bill hasn't passed even though
Speaker 3: it's com out of committee the last couple of years,
Speaker 3: it hasn't passed, and so hopefully that's a sign that
Speaker 3: of the speaker's view. But you know, like I said,
Speaker 3: I wouldn't I believe that him to speak.
Speaker 2: On No, absolutely understand that, but I just want to
Speaker 2: give you that job. We'll take a quick break here.
Speaker 2: It's a nine to forty four in Boston on a
Speaker 2: Monday night. It was a holiday today officially and celebrated
Speaker 2: as Columbus Day in both Massachusetts and across the country.
Speaker 4: It's a federal holiday as well.
Speaker 2: And there are those who want to turn Columbus Day
Speaker 2: into Indigenous People's Day. I think the suggestion of Representative
Speaker 2: Turco is very reasonable, and he's going to file legislation
Speaker 2: next January when the legislature reconvenes, to make it a
Speaker 2: different holiday for Indigenous people. And he's recommending, I believe,
Speaker 2: August ninth, because that is the Indigenous People Day that
Speaker 2: is recognized worldwide by the United Nations. So I kind
Speaker 2: of imagine people being opposed to that. Okay, we got
Speaker 2: room for a couple of more calls six one, seven, two,
Speaker 2: ten thirty, six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty
Speaker 2: Coming right back on night side.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the window World
Speaker 1: Light six Studios on w b Z News Radio.
Speaker 4: Oh, we're gonna get everyone in here, Eric and Methu
Speaker 4: and Eric.
Speaker 2: You're Oma State Representative Jeff Turco, who represents forty percent
Speaker 2: of Revere on all of Winthrop.
Speaker 4: We're talking about Columbus Day and Indigenous People Day.
Speaker 10: Go right ahead, Eric, I having been someone that has
Speaker 10: navigated the world in a Navy aircraft for the propellers.
Speaker 10: When I'm out over the Pacific of the Atlantic, I
Speaker 10: am always in awe and I always think of Christopher
Speaker 10: Columbus and what he days. One of my heroes, I
Speaker 10: mean Tiler, I'm Strong, and the Mercury seven, the astronauts
Speaker 10: are my heroes. But this guy did beyond what they did.
Speaker 10: He he borrowed three wooden ships that did five knots,
Speaker 10: filled them with enough food he thought to go across,
Speaker 10: notion that he didn't know how far it was, fought scurvy, malaria,
Speaker 10: and everything else, and still kept leadership over all three
Speaker 10: crews and and did it.
Speaker 3: He pulled it off.
Speaker 10: And I'm always in ode of his accomplishment of saying, hey,
Speaker 10: can I borrow three ships and go across an ocean
Speaker 10: that I don't know how long it is? And on
Speaker 10: top of that, we place twenty first century values on
Speaker 10: someone from the fifteenth century, which is so we don't
Speaker 10: want values five hundred years from now placed on us.
Speaker 10: You know, we don't want to be judged five hundred
Speaker 10: years now from what we do. We drop We drive
Speaker 10: fossil fuel cars right now. They're gonna hate us for
Speaker 10: it five hundred years from now maybe.
Speaker 2: But he's we're gonna five hundred years from now which
Speaker 2: will go and just air, but they'll be fueled by
Speaker 2: just air.
Speaker 10: That's what the said anyway. But what what Christopher Columbus
Speaker 10: did is amazing. He borrowed three wooden ships and did
Speaker 10: those ships did three to five dots a day. It
Speaker 10: took at least a month to get across the ocean,
Speaker 10: and he didn't know how far he was going. He said, hey,
Speaker 10: I've got this and I'll make it back. And and
Speaker 10: it's amazing that he was able to without GPS, without
Speaker 10: the Weather Channel. Without weather reports and hurricane reports, he
Speaker 10: managed to get to the tropics and come back home safely.
Speaker 10: Which he traveled the world he didn't have like.
Speaker 4: The Weather Channel back then.
Speaker 10: I mean, imagine the imagine the guts that that fuck is.
Speaker 2: Let me get Jeff in here. That's an excellent presentation
Speaker 2: by Eric. Jeff excellent.
Speaker 3: I think Eric, and I want to take you with
Speaker 3: me when I speak about Columbus, because it really it's
Speaker 3: like that's it's just it's celebrating the great accomplishment, the
Speaker 3: great daring, the great risks that he took in how
Speaker 3: we've all benefited from it.
Speaker 10: I love Neil Armstrong, you know, navy man like me,
Speaker 10: and I did twenty four years flying around the world
Speaker 10: on a sea one thirty at p three before that
Speaker 10: stuff on tur And when I'm out there twelve hours
Speaker 10: out over the Pacific Ocean or you know, the Atlantic Ocean,
Speaker 10: I've spent eight hours over that ocean and a sea
Speaker 10: one thirty hercules heading for a rack. And I'm like,
Speaker 10: how does someone take a ship that the five knots?
Speaker 10: I'm doing three hundred knots. This guy took a ship
Speaker 10: to the five knots and managed to get across the
Speaker 10: ocean and find where he was going without GPS. And
Speaker 10: I'm sitting there struggling with the electronics on a daily basis,
Speaker 10: going come on, update, update, update, and this guy just said, yeah,
Speaker 10: I got some stars. I'll be all right, Eric.
Speaker 2: Without without Christopher Columbus finding, we wouldn't have the World Series,
Speaker 2: we wouldn't have the Super Bowl. There's a lot of
Speaker 2: things that the cave came on this. Hey, Eric, I
Speaker 2: love the call. Thank you so much.
Speaker 10: All right, thanks man, that a great night.
Speaker 4: All right, great, I have great college. Yeah, I'm very
Speaker 4: proud of.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, that was awesome. That was great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, here we go.
Speaker 2: Let me see you're gonna drop Yeah, Eric, and we're
Speaker 2: going to go to Paul and Shrewsbury. Hey, Paul, you're
Speaker 2: next on nice, I get you, and one more in here,
Speaker 2: Paul right in.
Speaker 12: Hey, how you doing to? I totally totally agree with
Speaker 12: the last caller and the woman who called before, you
Speaker 12: know about rescheduling the Indigenous People's Day to August ninth.
Speaker 12: I'm I'm a retired teacher and educator. You know, my
Speaker 12: birthday actually is October twelfth, all right, exactly I've always,
Speaker 12: you know, I've always from the time I was a
Speaker 12: little kid, I always enjoyed you know, my birthday and
Speaker 12: Clumbus Day, but also as a teacher, having you know,
Speaker 12: obviously having the day off, having the weekend, you know,
Speaker 12: respect everything he did, you know, as a seafaring navigator
Speaker 12: and you know, and you know all that stuff. So
Speaker 12: you know, totally totally think that, you know, and I
Speaker 12: kind of look at it the way of having it
Speaker 12: posted as an Indigenous day almost as a punishment type
Speaker 12: of sentiment, you know, to to either Columbus or or
Speaker 12: the way you know some people feel about you know,
Speaker 12: the sort of you know, whatever negative things that may
Speaker 12: have come up with him in history. But that the thing,
Speaker 12: the reason why I wanted to call, And this is
Speaker 12: kind of like totally flipping the table over is I
Speaker 12: was just kind of surfing the web, I think it
Speaker 12: was this morning, and this article came up about the
Speaker 12: possibility that you know, even though Columbus was a practicing
Speaker 12: Catholic and you know, you know, you know, revered by
Speaker 12: Italians and stuff, that he they I'm.
Speaker 6: Nancy Lyons Bloomberg Business on wb Z, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 12: I guess they did some DNA testing from his remains
Speaker 12: and his sons, and they supposedly claim it. Again, this
Speaker 12: isn't one hundred percent you know, sure yet, but they
Speaker 12: said that he may have like Sephardic Jewish heritage, which
Speaker 12: you know, kind of like flips the whole you know,
Speaker 12: Italian thing over in a little while. They like they said,
Speaker 12: I think they that he might have been born in Valencia, Spain,
Speaker 12: and it was at a time when Jewish people were
Speaker 12: being persecuted. I don't know if it had either of
Speaker 12: you guys seen that or read about that at all.
Speaker 2: I think I haven't seen it, and I think it's
Speaker 2: a huge stretch at this point, I know, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's all revision is history in my opinion, In my opinion,
Speaker 2: what do you think, Jeff?
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I've heard something about that today. I haven't
Speaker 3: read the story.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: All I thought was with the rise of anti Semitism
Speaker 3: in this country, then they'll hate Commas even more because
Speaker 3: now not only is he a Guyan, but he's Jewish,
Speaker 3: and let to make it even more and more.
Speaker 2: That wouldn't be surprised if someone comes out and says
Speaker 2: that some that maybe they feel that he was part
Speaker 2: Japanese and that his his great great great great grandchildren
Speaker 2: bombed Pearl Harbors.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just it's.
Speaker 2: Amazing the lengths people will go, Hey, Paul, appreciate you, Carl,
Speaker 2: thank you much.
Speaker 3: All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: So I'm going to get ii Leen in here, Eileen.
Speaker 2: We are giving away Knights Eide T shirts pink Nightside
Speaker 2: T shirts to certain callers this month in awareness.
Speaker 4: I would love one awareness.
Speaker 2: Well, you stay right then we'll get you one. Let
Speaker 2: me get you've called on on Columbus feel free. Let's say, hey,
Speaker 2: did Jeff Turco? Your comments? Go ahead, Eileen.
Speaker 8: Okay, Well, when I was a child gazillion years ago,
Speaker 8: we uh celebrated Columbus because he dared to possibly fall
Speaker 8: off the edge of the world. At that time, they
Speaker 8: didn't think the world was round. They thought was flat,
Speaker 8: and all the ships were disappearing.
Speaker 2: They thought that could those days these ships go out
Speaker 2: to see they wouldn't come back, And that's what they said,
Speaker 2: we must have gone off the edge.
Speaker 4: And he was a sea, he was a seafarer, he
Speaker 4: was not a sea. Fear great courage that this is.
Speaker 8: Right, yes, exactly, and I definitely celebrate Columbus Day, and
Speaker 8: we'll always celebrate Columbus Day and celebrate Christopher Columbus. He
Speaker 8: was a great man.
Speaker 4: A great point, a great point to end on. Eileen.
Speaker 4: You got in a little late, but we got you in.
Speaker 2: Nonetheless, there's a couple of callers now who have called
Speaker 2: too Lake as we are changing topics at ten, Eileen,
Speaker 2: make sure Rob has all the information will get you
Speaker 2: at you that that Knightside t shirt from our great
Speaker 2: friends at College Hype dot com in Dorchester. Jack Darty
Speaker 2: and the gang are so generous making these t shirts
Speaker 2: and people can go to Knights Out Gear. You have
Speaker 2: to like to buy one, that's true, that's possible as well.
Speaker 2: Just go to nightsidegear dot com. Jeff Turco, thank you
Speaker 2: very much. Great presentation. We have callers who are now
Speaker 2: calling in. Unfortunately they apparently should have got reached for
Speaker 2: the phone a little earlier.
Speaker 4: Jeff.
Speaker 2: We'll do it again next year, Okay, and do me
Speaker 2: favor keep me posted on your piece of legislation because
Speaker 2: I'd like to cover that for you when it happens.
Speaker 3: Okay, I will definitely do that. Dan, always good to
Speaker 3: talk to you. Thank you very much for all you do.
Speaker 3: To have to inform the public.
Speaker 4: Your one Democrat. That gives me a little faith in
Speaker 4: the Democratic Party.
Speaker 3: Right now, thank you very much, Take you if you well,
Speaker 3: have a great night, and have you Tuesday night.
Speaker 2: All right, we are going to change topics. On the
Speaker 2: other side. We're going to talk about the strike of
Speaker 2: the hotel workers. For those of you on the line,
Speaker 2: I apologize, but you got to call it a little
Speaker 2: before the end of the hour. Back on Night's side,
Speaker 2: right after this