(friendswood) columbus day

since i'm a government worker, today is a "holiday," but is it not the most bogus holiday ever? everyone knows (or should know) that columbus didn't discover america - he just happened upon it accidentally while looking for treasures and riches. neither was columbus, from what i can tell, a particularly admirable individual. however, as pointed out in an open letter from a Native American group in 1994, "The issue of Coumbus and Columbus Day is not easily resolvable by dismissing Columbus, the man." i think instead of having columbus day, we should just have a second martin luther king day. or perhaps a gandhi day. or at the very least, how about a national holiday that honors native americans rather than celebrates their oppression and extermination? in protest and in anticelebration of this holiday, i will work extra hard today and will remember those whose lives, cultures, and worlds were destroyed so i could be here and have this day off.

more from the 1994 open letter:
"To dignify Columbus and his legacy with parades, holidays and other celebrations is repugnant. As the original peoples of this land, we cannot, and we will not, tolerate social and political festivities that celebrate our genocide. We are committed to the active, open, and public rejection of disrespect and racism in its various forms--including Columbus Day and Columbus Day parades.

For the past five years the American Indian Movement of Colorado and our allies have been compelled to confront and resist the continuing Columbus legacy in the streets of Denver. For every hour spent organizing non-violent opposition to the Columbus parade, we have lost an hour that we were not able to use in assisting indigenous treaty rights struggles, land recovery strategies, and the advancement of indigenous self-determination.

However, one positive benefit of our efforts was the public debate over Columbus Day that has spread into the public schools as an educational tool for students and their teachers. Overall, we view the demise of the Columbus Day Parade in Denver as a welcome opportunity to move beyond the divisive symbolism of the past.

We therefore suggest the replacement of Columbus Day with a celebration that is more inclusive and that more accurately reflects the cultural and racial richness of the Americas. We also suggest that the community support a more honest portrayal of social evolution in this hemisphere and a greater respect for all people on the margins of the dominating society. There is no more appropriate place for this transformation to occur than in Colorado, the birthplace of the Columbus Day holiday."