Lightfoot: No plans to change city holiday of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday she has no plans to duplicate at the city level what her hand-picked school board just did, infuriating some Italian Americans. That is, replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.

"I do think we've got a lot more to do to make sure that we are aware and sensitive of the history, but I absolutely have no plans to support any elimination of Columbus Day at the city level," the mayor said at an unrelated news conference after unveiling her plan to bolster CTA security.

Lightfoot noted that for a number of years, the Chicago Public Schools have essentially celebrated both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day. She "thought that made sense."

The mayor was not asked - nor did she explain - why, if she thought a shared holiday made sense, her hand-picked school board forged ahead with the change that has so infuriated Italian American aldermen and civic groups.

• See the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times at chicago.suntimes.com.