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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Columbus Day Parade

October 10, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, despite the rain, this is a day to celebrate. This is a day when we honor Italian-Americans and their contributions to this city and this nation – as many as 25 million people who have helped to make America great. And we know in this city what a huge, positive impact Italian-Americans have made. 

For me, it’s a very personal day. Some of you, I think, were even with me when I went to my grandparent’s hometowns three years ago. My grandfather, Giovanni, came here from near Naples. My grandmother, Anna, came here from farther south in Italy. They came from small towns to live an American dream, which probably seemed unimaginable in many ways, but they came here over 100 years ago and were able to have an amazing life in this city, to bring up their children, to teach them to love New York and to love America. My family experienced the American dream, and we celebrate that today. We celebrate the entire immigrant experience. 

And my mother, Maria, who did so much for me – she spoke Italian before she ever spoke English. She learned English in school. And, you know what, like for any immigrant, that’s not an easy thing. And my aunt who passed away last year – well into her 90’s – she told me just last year how much it stinged that kids made fun of them because they were Italian, because they spoke with an accent, because they looked different. Italians in this country suffered discrimination for a long, long time, and we’re still overcoming that. But today, we celebrate the contributions. We celebrate the successes. We celebrate the American dream, which is what so many Italian-American families experienced. There’s a lot to be proud of, and, for me, it’s a day to really appreciate how hard it was for our immigrant forbearers. They were guaranteed nothing. They came here not knowing what they would face, and their resiliency, their triumph is what we celebrate today as well. 

So, I’m very, very proud of my Italian heritage. I know a lot of people are gathering today, proud of our Italian heritage. We look forward to a great parade and we will always remember our ancestors who did so much for us. 

I want to welcome your questions –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I don’t worry about any critics who try and judge any of us. No one understands our own lives, our own families. I’m very, very proud of my family. I’m very proud of what they achieved. I’m very proud of how much love they had for Italy and their heritage. You know, I mentioned my aunt and that she always talked about when she suffered this discrimination, when she suffered the taunts, she would go home to my grandfather, and he would always say to her to be proud of who you are. He would use the word fiere, which is one of the Italian words for pride, and tell her as a little girl – believe in who you are, appreciate all that Italy has done for the world, be proud of your heritage. That’s how I feel – I don’t care about any critics. No critics can take that away from any of us. I think what we should be focused on today is this heritage and what it means. I think you can – look, you can debate the historic figure of Christopher Columbus, but you can’t debate the contribution of Italian-Americans to this country – that is beyond question – it’s overwhelming and it’s incredibly positive. That’s what we should be focused on today. 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Look, everybody has their own symbols that matter to them. In my family – they talked about our family members first. That’s what people were proud of – everybody in our family, all of our ancestors, what they achieved. There was a lot of pride in the great artists of the Renaissance, there was a lot of pride in the Roman Empire. There’s a lot of different things you can proud of if you think about your Italian heritage. But, for Italian-Americans, I think we should really focus on what we have achieved in this country. And people here – people like Fiorello LaGuardia, who, to me, is my idol as an Italian-America. So, I think it’s a very personal question, but I think we need to think beyond any one historic figure and really think about what this heritage means.  

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Look, again, I don’t lost in the critics. Anyone who saw me go to the graveyard where my great grandparents were buried in Sant'Agata de' Goti near Naples, and questions my heritage, obviously is not interested in the facts. I’m very proud of my heritage, that’s all I care about. I don’t care about the critics. But look, I think the commission is an attempt to deal with a lot of things and I want to do a better job of articulating this because the idea is to bring together some really respected people of all backgrounds to think about how we moved forward as a city. These issues have been coming up for years and years now, and it’s not about any one historical figure or any one background – it’s about everything in the history of our country that needs to be discussed more and looked at and made sense of. I think a commission that says, here’s a way we move forward is the right thing to do. Now, look, I want to emphasize – nothing is going to change in the short-term. I think some of the critics, possibly for their own purposes, have tried to gin this up. No one is moving any statues. No one is changing anything in the short-term. We’re going to have a real, public discussion about how we address issues of the past that should be surfaced and talked about in a responsible manner. I’ve said, there are a lot of different solutions, including something as simple as putting additional historical markers up to tell other elements of the history – that should be a conversation that people are not afraid of. So, there’s no reason for anyone to worry about immediate changes. The commission will do its work, then there will be a public discussion of it. We’ll decide from there what options we have. But I think it’s important to look at our history. I mean, this is what’s happening all over the country these last few years – it’s how do we come to grips with the good things and the troubling things in our history, and figure out how to move forward. This is the greatest city of immigrants. This is the most diverse city on earth. We’re actually a pretty harmonious city at this point in our history – it wasn’t always true. How do we build on that? How do we address people’s real concerns and still move forward?

Marcia –

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Marcia, that’s a misunderstanding of the whole situation, respectfully. As I said, nothing is happening with any of the statues in question – and they are state related to people of all different backgrounds, all different historical eras. Nothing is happening with any of it in the short-term. We have a commission of really respected people who are going to look at this issue and offer suggestions about how we move forwards as a city. Again, these issues have been bubbling up for years. We have to come up with a universal way of addressing them. So, to anyone who is concerned – nothing physical is going to change. We’re going to have a larger discussion, and then we will decide where we move from there. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: You know, I’m never worried about that at any public event. Being Mayor of New York City means you’re going to get some cheers, you’re going to get some jeers – it’s just part of the job. 

Alright. Thanks, everyone. 

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