Sunday, October 9, 2016
The Holiday formerly known as Columbus Day
In Genoa, Italy, Christopher Columbus is still touted as a most famous favorite son. There, alongside boat models and other items, the Museum of the Sea displays a handwritten document from 1479 in which Columbus declares that he is a Genoese citizen going to Portugal to seek financial backing as he sets off on his voyage.
But here in the United States, more and more towns, cities, and states are shifting focus away from Columbus to the indigenous peoples who were already in America long before Columbus arrived. In August of this year, Boulder, Colorado joined more than a dozen other cities and states across the country that have transformed Columbus Day, still a federal holiday, to Indigenous People's Day. "I'm sorry it took so long," said Boulder's Mayor, Suzanne Jones. Even more recently, Denver, Phoenix, Yakima and Santa Fe have all approved similar resolutions.
Still, the pull of the Christopher Columbus story remains strong in some sectors. In Cincinnati, on October 5, the city council rejected a proposal to adopt an Indigenous People's Day in lieu of Columbus Day. Of 9 council members, 4 abstained, 1 opposed the proposals, and 4 supported it, leaving the measure one vote short of the majority needed to pass. According to press reports, some council members were concerned about eclipsing Columbus Day, and suggested that the Indigenous People's Day should be set on a different date. The bill sponsor said, however, that the point of the new designation was to "tell the full story of the history of this country," so that the Columbus story was not seen in isolation from the events that his voyage triggered.
Does designating a day really matter? One disappointed activist in Cincinnati noted that an Indigenous People's Day would "not only include Native Americans in this very diverse city, but is also means that what my family endured will not be forgotten." And the fact is, the old-style celebrations of Columbus Day are on the wane. Even Columbus, Ohio, stopped its parades in the 1990s. As many cities and states have found, a new designation for the holiday actually re-invigorates the day in a way that celebrates contemporary America.
In other words, let Genoa continue to maintain Christopher Columbus' legacy in its excellent museum. Here in the US, we have a more complete and inclusive story to tell.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/human_rights/2016/10/the-holiday-formerly-known-as-columbus-day.html