As a proud Italian American, I was both truly saddened and gravely disappointed to see that "Italian" was removed this year from the local event that has always been entitled "I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival."
I really tried to think outside-of-the-box in an attempt to find valid reasoning as to why a decision would be made that would likely offend the local Italian-American community, which is larger than most people probably think. "Italian" has always been embedded in the title of this very popular local festival for good/obvious reasons. The art of street painting originated in Italy during the Italian Renaissance. So why would the Children’s Creative Project remove "Italian" from the festival title? Was there a large influential group that was offended by the word? If so, Italian Americans would love to know who, and why, so that we could at least try and rectify the situation. Everyone should be for change — but only if a proposed change can be deemed as a true "enhancement." Change is easy, but an enhancement is typically created by rational thought that considers all pluses and minuses caused by any changes being pondered.
If wiser spirits do not prevail, then can we soon expect that "Spanish" will be removed from "Old Spanish Days," the true title for Santa Barbara’s uber popular Fiesta celebration? Well, of course the word "Spanish" will not be arbitrarily removed as the highly populous Hispanic community would, understandably, be livid.