Today is Columbus Day, and most Americans greet it with a lazy indifference. However, many people have been angered that a entire holiday is dedicated to a slaver, a liar, a sex-trafficker, and an oppressor, who started the genicide of Native Americans, and is effectively the father of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. While some United States citizens view Columbus as some hero who "braved adversity and discovered a whole new world", most people in Central and South America have an understandably less favorable view of him. Therefore, most of these countries have replaced Columbus Day with days honoring Native American cultures and tolerance.
Seattle, which is a liberal city in a liberal state, has taken inspiration, and through a unanimous vote of the city council, will replace Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples' Day." City Council member Kshama Sawant told the Seattle Times that this move is about "taking a stand against racism and discrimination." Many supporters state how poverty, discrimination and poorer education are problems which still plague many Native American communities to this day, and the new holiday will bring awareness to this issue.
I think that this is a great decision; to celebrate the beauty and diversity of native cultures, rather than some sociopathic criminal. I am firmly anti-Columbus, and I understand why many Native Americans would detest having a holiday which celebrates the actions of a man who started the genocide of their culture.
Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/12/354274630/seattle-swaps-columbus-day-for-indigenous-peoples-day
I like this idea. There was never really a day to celebrate the indigenous people as they should be and I am glad they are being celebrated now. (Myles Bennett)
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely happy for Seattle. Hopefully this inspires others to look deeper into our country's history and recognize all the awful things we've done in order to be established here.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's great for them. I remember reading something in Mr. Brown's class last year about Columbus and how he wasn't the hero everyone makes him to be. After that, I was pretty disgusted by him so I'm glad Seattle is taking a stand.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome! The ideals put forth by Columbus are truly horrific and I'm glad that they're actually paying attention to the effects of having a holiday celebrating a man who did such terrible things. This is really great and I hope it inspires many other places around the country to do the same.
ReplyDeleteThe title of this post is misleading but informative. I thought I would have read this article bashing Seattle for breaking an American tradition, but in actuality they are improving the livelihood of the holiday. We need to recognize the true instigators and heroes of this country- past and present.
ReplyDeleteI think they did a great thing; Columbus Day isn't even a tradition! This organization, the "Knights of Columbus", was an all-male, all-Catholic society which wanted a Catholic role model for young boys. They pressured FDR into making it a holiday. Columbus Day isn't even 80 years old.
DeleteI'm so beyond happy to read this! It's honestly about time someone recognized the horrible acts associated with that so called "holiday". It's great to see that things are coming out of the rug they've been swept under.
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