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Columbus Day or Indig
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While on college tours on Monday, I was reveling in the fact that there was no school when I came across these neon signs protesting the celebration of the man who had given us a day off. Columbus was known for sailing the ocean blue and discovering America, but given the fact that he killed Indians and took their land has people weary about celebrating him. Starting this year, Seattle and Minneapolis are no longer celebrating Columbus Day, but are instead celebrating Indigenous People's Day. Seattle Council member Kshama Sawant says, "Learning about the history of Columbus and transforming this day into a celebration of indigenous people and a celebration of social justice ... allows us to make a connection between this painful history and the ongoing marginalization, discrimination and poverty that indigenous communities face to this day,". Berkeley, California celebrated Indigenous People's day in 1992 before it was cool. Although some people are offended by celebrating Columbus day, others are offended by the thought of not celebrating the holiday. Italian-Americans are angered that their heritage is not being appreciated. Lisa Marchese, a lawyer affiliated with the Order Sons of Italy in America says, "By this resolution, you say to all Italian-Americans that the city of Seattle no longer deems your heritage or your community worthy of recognition." It seems that no matter what happens, it is impossible for everyone to be happy.
I believe that Indigenous People's day should be celebrated. They have suffered more social injustice than imaginable and they deserve a day of reverence. According to the United Nations General Assembly, International Day of the World's Indigenous People Day has been on August 9th since 1994. So let's acknowledge that day and really recognize indigenous people. That being said, I believe that we should still celebrate Columbus Day as well. Although Columbus did not have great regard for the Indian people and he was the cause of so much pain, suffering and death among the Native Americans, he also was the cause for so much hope and growth. Without Columbus, America would not be here today and billions of dreams would not have been made. Columbus might not have "discovered" the land, but he did discover America. We owe all of this to him, so why not celebrate him and the indigenous people.
Do you think we should celebrate one or the other?
2 comments:
I don't see the harm in promoting the celebration of Indigenous People's Day. As you said, some Italian-Americans are upset by cities adopting this new holiday, but I don't think this is really justified. In no way is Christopher Columbus the singular Italian icon for Italian-Americans, so I don't think that this community is being disenfranchised by certain cities choosing not to devote an entire holiday to him alone. Also, the celebration of Columbus Day would definitely be controversial no matter what country Columbus came from; the destruction of entire indigenous societies would warrant controversy no matter who it was carried out by. It's also important to remember that the cities mentioned in the article are not trying to replace Columbus Day altogether but are rather trying to supplement it with Indigenous People's Day. I think that this redefined method of celebration will ultimately help the public and especially the youth understand some of the complexities of history as well as the importance of appreciating diversity.
Strangely enough, when reading this post the first thing that popped into my head was the long units we spent last year in American History learning about the painful past and history of slavery and racial injustice. While the two situations do not seem to have much in common, what strikes me is that we make an effort as a country (or at least in this section of it) to emphasize the suffering that African Americans recieved during that tumultuous time because it has been accepted that we must embrace the past in order to ensure something like that doesn't happen again.
I remember learning about Christopher Columbus as a hero in elementary school and only later discovering that he was not all that amazing of a human being. However, I also think that maybe trying to make the portrayal of the man more accurate at such a young age is difficult, because the "gray" area between right and wrong is something learned as you grow up. I do believe that Indigenous People's Day should also be celebrated as well as Columbus day, given that they are the very fundamental roots to societies started in America.
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