As for me and my house, we will celebrate and honor Indigenous Peoples Day. The story of Columbus can be told, accurately, and not erased. But he doesn’t deserve a holiday, to be celebrated, or to have monuments honoring him anywhere in America. Please spend the day learning about the Indigenous people in our country, who are still here btw, and gain new perspective on how we can reconcile with them to make our country better.
"When we celebrate figures who used Christianity to justify violence and viewed foreigners as subjects of exploitation, we risk normalizing similar attitudes today." I think those attitudes have already been normalized :(
It feels like this is a culture war that relies on semantics.
You can recognize that Columbus finding the Americas was a pretty big deal and arguably should be marked in some way while not actually 'celebrating' all the things that entailed.
Discovery of The Americas Day (because despite the Vikings no one outside of the Americas knew it was here lol) and a recognition that two things can be true, it was terrible for those people who were already here and also a massively important milestone in the development of the present world and in the existence of the USA (same as 4th July).
Very interesting to learn about why it came about though and I will be making sure to include that in teaching my American daughters about the day.
I think the learning about multiple aspects of the same event is the important part. I know I didn't learn about the impacts of Columbus on indigenous populations until way later. Not that I necessarily think we need to detail the way people died for kids in pre-k. But similar to Thanksgiving and learning about the Puritans it had been very one sided. We're not necessarily very good at a nation at saying look this was really important but also here is how we really hurt others. And realizing that's not saying and you should personally feel really terrible to be an American because of what people in the past did.
However, countries in the East had known about the North American continent for many years before Columbus. It is a Western Civilization history story.
I find it puzzling that we celebrate Columbus when what he did had nothing to do with the United States. It makes as much sense to “celebrate” Hernan Cortez as it does Columbus. While looking at the life standards of the day, what Columbus did was amazing - crossing the vicious Atlantic in those small ships with limited supplies. What he (“he” means his entire crew as they followed his leadership) did upon arriving is what needs to be taught in high school and college courses. Should we have a Columbus Day holiday? No. There is nothing related to our country to celebrate. If Italian-Americans feel offended, ask why.
In 1990 when South Dakota recognized what we call Native American Day, it was Governor George Mickelson (Republican) who led the effort as a recognition of the Lakota Nation and their history in SD. It resulted in improved relations between the state government and the Native leaders.
In contrast, it was embarrassing when Kristi Noem treated the Native leaders so badly that all 9 reservations banned her from coming onto their reservations.
The far right Rs are not the same as the moderate Rs like Gov. Mickelson and that is sad.
“Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.”
Using religion to justify the mistreatment of others has been happening for far, far too long.
As for me and my house, we will celebrate and honor Indigenous Peoples Day. The story of Columbus can be told, accurately, and not erased. But he doesn’t deserve a holiday, to be celebrated, or to have monuments honoring him anywhere in America. Please spend the day learning about the Indigenous people in our country, who are still here btw, and gain new perspective on how we can reconcile with them to make our country better.
"When we celebrate figures who used Christianity to justify violence and viewed foreigners as subjects of exploitation, we risk normalizing similar attitudes today." I think those attitudes have already been normalized :(
It feels like this is a culture war that relies on semantics.
You can recognize that Columbus finding the Americas was a pretty big deal and arguably should be marked in some way while not actually 'celebrating' all the things that entailed.
Discovery of The Americas Day (because despite the Vikings no one outside of the Americas knew it was here lol) and a recognition that two things can be true, it was terrible for those people who were already here and also a massively important milestone in the development of the present world and in the existence of the USA (same as 4th July).
Very interesting to learn about why it came about though and I will be making sure to include that in teaching my American daughters about the day.
I think the learning about multiple aspects of the same event is the important part. I know I didn't learn about the impacts of Columbus on indigenous populations until way later. Not that I necessarily think we need to detail the way people died for kids in pre-k. But similar to Thanksgiving and learning about the Puritans it had been very one sided. We're not necessarily very good at a nation at saying look this was really important but also here is how we really hurt others. And realizing that's not saying and you should personally feel really terrible to be an American because of what people in the past did.
However, countries in the East had known about the North American continent for many years before Columbus. It is a Western Civilization history story.
Sure doesn't make us good at nuance. Which is what discussing what other cultures knew of the Americas prior to Columbus would include.
I find it puzzling that we celebrate Columbus when what he did had nothing to do with the United States. It makes as much sense to “celebrate” Hernan Cortez as it does Columbus. While looking at the life standards of the day, what Columbus did was amazing - crossing the vicious Atlantic in those small ships with limited supplies. What he (“he” means his entire crew as they followed his leadership) did upon arriving is what needs to be taught in high school and college courses. Should we have a Columbus Day holiday? No. There is nothing related to our country to celebrate. If Italian-Americans feel offended, ask why.
In 1990 when South Dakota recognized what we call Native American Day, it was Governor George Mickelson (Republican) who led the effort as a recognition of the Lakota Nation and their history in SD. It resulted in improved relations between the state government and the Native leaders.
In contrast, it was embarrassing when Kristi Noem treated the Native leaders so badly that all 9 reservations banned her from coming onto their reservations.
The far right Rs are not the same as the moderate Rs like Gov. Mickelson and that is sad.
I recommend The Other Slavery by Andres Resendez for deeper reading on the impact of European colonialism on the Americas.
This is a clear and factual article about this subject. And why would anyone want to celebrate this guy?
Thank you for this important history.
Headline has a typo. A exciting, should be An exciting
Thank you, Sharon. One of your best pieces, clarifying and describing both sides so well.
Appreciate it 🙏🏾
Thank you for this article and the history behind the holiday. I was just discussing the complexity of this today with my 8th grader.