The New York City Department of Education has unilaterally decided to rename its Columbus Day holiday to “Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous People’s Day.” The New York Young Republican Club expresses unreserved disappointment and outrage with the Department of Education for its unjust assault on a holiday that has been celebrated in New York City (at first informally) as far back as the 18th century. Once again, politically motivated leftist city leaders have showcased their inability to understand and honor the nuanced history of America at the expense of millions of Italian-Americans in New York who observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage.
Christopher Columbus’ courageous voyage to the Americas initiated a cultural exchange where millions of immigrants brought with them contributions that helped shape the United States for centuries to come. Today, leftist revisionists have maligned his reputation in contravention of a fair reading of primary sources and the historical record. Columbus Day is an integral part of the American and Italian heritage, created to affirm the U.S. as a “nation of immigrants”. After Italian immigrants and their descendants faced severe discrimination in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Italian-Americans fought to establish Columbus Day as a federal holiday to celebrate the legacy and contributions of Italian-Americans nationwide.
Instead of focusing its attention on the ever-decreasing quality of New York City public schools, a cadre of cowardly, anonymous bureaucrats at the New York City Department of Education decided that their top priority out to be the implementation of a policy that needlessly slaps at the Italian-American community in the name of “social justice.” Even Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter and Mayor Bill de Blasio seemed surprised by the change, claiming that they were not in the loop. While it is exceptionally hard to believe that the higher-ups in New York City’s organizational chart were blindsided by this decision, the change highlights what we have known all along: the administrative Deep State, led by unchecked weak leaders, operates at all levels as an autonomous entity that does not answer to the body politic.
Leftist bureaucrats have mindlessly sown confrontation by pitting groups against each other while denying the American people a balanced reading of our history. New Yorkers have the capacity to engage in reasonable debate regarding aspects of historical figures’ legacies, but the leftists in government refuse to permit this lest the result not be to their political liking. Native-Americans, just like Italian-Americans, should have the right to celebrate their history and culture. However, replacing one holiday with another unnecessarily creates more tension and division.
Columbus Day is not only a day to honor and remember the Italian-American community’s achievements and contributions to American society, but also so much more; it reminds us of the success of immigrants who tirelessly petitioned their government for recognition. It also represents the importance of risk-taking and unwavering dedication that is at the heart of the American Dream.
The New York Young Republican Club calls upon the New York City Department of Education to reinstitute Columbus Day and to stop this appalling campaign to divide New Yorkers.
Gavin Wax President
New York Young Republican Club
Statement On New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. V. Corlett
The Supreme Court of the United States recently agreed to hear New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Corlett, a case dealing with a New York law that requires an applicant to demonstrate “proper cause” to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense outside their home. The time has come for the Court to resolve this critical Constitutional impasse and to reaffirm the citizens’ fundamental right to carry a handgun outside of the home for self-defense.
The last blockbuster cases on Second Amendment interpretation were District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, which held that the Second Amendment protects “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation,” and McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010, which held that this right “is fully applicable to the States.”
Since the spirited clash between the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s history-based approach in the Heller majority opinion, which reinforced that the right to bear arms guaranteed in the Second Amendment should not be burdened in the home, and the late Justice John Paul Stevens’ narrow interpretation in the dissenting opinion, which construed the right to fulfill a purpose such as in preparation for military conscription, the seminal issue of clarifying the extent of the flexibility of the Second Amendment has been a hotly debated topic and has consistently attracted national attention.
Like most rights, however, the Second Amendment is not unfettered and the following passage from Justice Scalia’s opinion may in fact be considered with this matter:
“It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
As applied to the present matter, the Second Circuit has already upheld the present New York law, and the Ninth Circuit concurred by expressing skepticism as to the constitutionality of an unrestrained general right to publicly carry concealed weapons. However, these courts have not given full consideration to the roadmap that Justice Scalia provided to identify the limited situations when it could be considered inappropriate to limit access to concealed firearms. Justice Scalia noted, as referenced in the passage quoted above, that precedent permits the restriction of this right for compromised classes such as the mentally ill or felons or in sensitive areas such as schools or government buildings. Notwithstanding these limitations, qualified security personnel should not be restricted in their rights, and those of sound mind ought not to be prohibited from the right to “conceal carry” in other zones, especially during times of civil strife like in New York, where law-abiding citizens, families, and businesses have faced a rise in violent crime.
The New York Young Republican Club takes issue with the text of the New York law as written, specifically the language of “proper cause.” While on its face the term may appear reasonable, in application that is not always the case especially when the interests of Constitutional rights are considered. There are questions as to the understanding of an administrative entity having the power to be the arbiter to assess whether one is worthy to exercise a Constitutional right under such conditioned broad terms. Should the parents in Westchester concerned for their family because their affluent area may be a target be treated differently than the small business owner in Manhattan who maintains a restaurant in an area of unrest? Or a concerned parent in the Bronx who lives in a neighborhood blighted by gang life and abandoned by the governmental authorities tasked with maintaining order? These are all valid considerations. As an attentive citizen, one should take the time to contemplate if the law invites a situation in which one must unreasonably surrender their enumerated Constitutional rights.
It is our hope that the Supreme Court of the United States brings clarity to this issue and fairly weighs all considerations. While there is an argument to be made that greater access to weapons would be beneficial to criminally inclined individuals, one must not neglect the rights of common law-abiding citizenry in their intention to maintain self-defense measures as often as reasonably necessary. And just who is most qualified to make that call?
The Supreme Court of the United States has scheduled oral arguments for this matter in fall 2021; will the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation be “swept into the dustbin of repudiated Constitutional principles?” Let us hope not.
During this transformative time for the New York Young Republican Club, many of you have reached out to us asking how to get more involved with the club, and how to better support our efforts.
One effective way to do this is to join a committee. We are currently looking for Vice-Chairs for many of our committees, who will receive special discounts for working events and recognition on our website. In addition to Vice Chair positions, we are looking to build all of our committees in terms of members.
Please take a moment to review our committees here and contact any committees you are interested in joining at the email address listed on the website. You are allowed to join up to 3 committees per our Bylaws.
To be a member of a committee you must be a member of the Club in Good Standing.
The New York Young Republican Club is a grassroots non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of members and donors to support its operations. We hope you will consider a donation today so that we remain a bastion of conservative values for many years to come!
Established in 1911, incorporated in 1912, with a legacy from 1856, the New York Young Republican Club is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious Young Republican club in the United States. The Club is affiliated with and officially recognized by the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs and the Young Republican National Federation, as well as the county, state, and national Republican committees.
