Today, most of the United States celebrates Columbus Day. But is it a day worthy of being a holiday? Many, including this author, do not. Below is an alternate post which I will offer instead.Happy Indigenous People's Day!
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Some Places Are Celebrating A Different Holiday On
Columbus Day
Sam
Levine Associate Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
·
Posted: 10/09/2015 05:57 PM EDT |
As Americans celebrate Columbus Day on Monday, a number
of places are moving to recognize a different holiday.
Seattle and Minneapolis are among the locations that will celebrate
"Indigenous Peoples' Day" this year as part of an effort to recognize
the marginalization of indigenous groups, who were already here when
Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas and were nearly wiped out afterwards. The resolutions, which
passed for the first time in both cities last year, will not replace Columbus
Day, but rather recognize indigenous communities alongside Columbus.
People in Seattle celebrate Indigenous Peoples'
Day in 2014.
While the resolutions can't override the federal holiday,
they are still an expression of the city's intent to recognize indigenous
communities, said Seattle Council member Kshama Sawant.
Advocates say the resolutions produce small but
meaningful changes the cities. Minneapolis, for example, is working
to change the language on its parking meters to say that holiday parking rules
are in effect on Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.
"I think for most people who know the reality of
colonialism, imperialism, the genocide that happened of the indigenous
community, for them the idea of celebrating all of that via Columbus Day is
quite abhorrent," Sawant said. "It was important to have the
city of Seattle declare that they're not going to be celebrating Columbus Day,
they're celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day."
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Sawant says, is also intended to
draw attention to the way that indigenous communities continue to be
marginalized and lack access to basic services. More than one in
three native children live in poverty, and the high school dropout rate is the
highest among any ethnic group in the country.
Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, has been recognized as a federal holiday since 1968. In
addition to the places that celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Columbus Day,
there are at least a dozen states that don't
celebrate the holiday at all. South Dakota and
Hawaii recognize the day as Native American Day and Discoverers' Day,
respectively.
Alondra Cano, a Minneapolis council member who pushed for the resolution
there, said that the city's first celebration was a "really emotional
day." It was especially important for Native American children
"who are going to grow up not having to feel ashamed or feel like
something isn't right when people talk about Columbus Day," she said.
Even though Cano was able to get the resolution passed, there were
objections along the way. Minneapolis Council President Barbara Johnson
objected to the resolution and invoked scalping that her ancestors endured,
according to Cano. A representative for the city's labor unions opposed the
resolution, Cano said, because she felt it diminished "the impacts of the
wonderful things that Christopher Columbus had brought to the Americas."
Seattle Council Member Kshama Sawant says that Indigenous Peoples' Day is
intended to highlight the ways that the indigenous community continues to
be marginalized.
Cano added that some of the persuasion necessary to get
the resolution passed involved convincing people that not "everything good
and great only happened when Christopher Columbus came."
Martin Nigrelle, president of the Board of
Directors at the Italian Community Hall in Seattle, said that the city's
Italian community felt that the resolution pitted them against the indigenous
communities.
"We support the indigenous peoples having a day of
recognition. I think we were offended that we weren't included in the choice
process and were offended that it was in some ways pointed at the days we
celebrate," he said. "We recognize that Columbus is, should we say, a
flawed hero at best in terms of now that we can look at things with a
historical perspective, but nonetheless the holiday has come to mean more than
just one man for us in terms of its celebration."
"It's not really about whether they have the same
day as us or not," he added.
Both Sawant and Cano said that they hope the success of
the resolutions in their respective cities encourages more places to pass
similar measures. But they also hope the resolutions can have an impact beyond
just one day.
"I think that we need a major shift away from the
way history is taught in our schools and towards teaching the accurate
history," Sawant said. "Teaching this kind of history will empower
people of color who come from people of color backgrounds, low income
backgrounds to take real pride in their genuine issues."
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly
stated Sawant's party. She is a member of the Socialist Alternative party.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw
scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
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