The idea of renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day is not new. This has been controversial since 1977, when the idea first arose. However, it has been more prevalent recently as multiple cities and states have made the decision to replace the national holiday. Columbus Day was declared a holiday by President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Indigenous People’s Day was established to recognize those who were here before Columbus, and acknowledge the Native people as the first inhabitants of the Americas. The first state to rename Columbus Day was South Dakota in 1990. In 1992 Berkeley California was the first city to make the change. A resolution was passed to change the holiday to Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Washington, D.C. in 2019. That same year, on October 16, President Donald Trump stated “To me it will always be called Columbus Day,” therefore directly dismissing criticism of Christopher Columbus at that time.
There are several states that now observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Native Americans Day as an addition or replacement to the Columbus Day holiday, including Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Other states have simply dropped Columbus Day from its list of holidays.
Republican senators Ron Johnson and James Lankford are proposing replacement of the federal observance of Columbus Day with Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery. It became a state holiday in Texas in 1980 and has been informally celebrated since 1865. Legislation to create Juneteenth as a federal holiday has been backed by several bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate, and pushed for by democratic lawmakers for years.
Conversation about the replacement of Columbus Day with Juneteenth was sparked following George Floyd’s death and Trump’s choice to hold his campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19th. Trump’s decision was staggering considering Tulsa is known for being the location of one of the worst racial violent acts in the country, and his campaign was on a day celebrating the end of slavery. His move was highly criticized by Democratic progressives and lawyers, and Kamala Harris stated “This isn’t just a wink to white supremacists- he’s throwing them a welcome party.
Do you think October 12 should be observed as Columbus Day, or should it be recognized as Juneteenth or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Also, with all of the allegations of racism against Trump, will his decision to continue the observance of Columbus Day become an issue in the nearing election?
Links:
Thank you Kirstyn. I forgot Columbus Day was Monday, Oct. 12 until my girlfriend was trying to contact her army unit and realized they weren’t answering because the office was closed due to it being a federal holiday. I agree with you that Columbus Day should be changed due to the type of person Columbus was. For starters, he never touched continental America; he landed in Cuba. Second, Columbus exploited, enslaved, sickened, tortured, and converted thousands of natives into Christianity. He was terrible and had no respect towards those that were on the island before him and the other Europeans. By having Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I believe culture will be respected and historically protected without controversy. It would be even better if Columbus Day was changed to Juneteenth. Celebrating the official end to slavery celebrates the notion that officially all men are created equal.
ReplyDelete-Aaron B.