Columbus Day commemorates
the arrival of the Christopher Columbus in the Americas. It is celebrated every
second Monday of October, and has been a federal holiday since 1937.
Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since President
Franklin D. Roosevelt first proclaimed it such in 1934. One hundred years ago
this month, Colorado Sen. Casimo Barela’s bill was signed into law, designating
Oct. 12 of each year as a public holiday known as Columbus Day. Roosevelt and
Barela recognized the significant achievements of Christopher Columbus, and
rightly chose, with millions of other Americans, to honor him.
Columbus possessed admirable qualities, of which all
Americans can be proud. Even by his detractors, he is seen as a skilled sea
captain of the highest order. He challenged the conventional thought that the
Earth was flat, seeking to “reach the east by going west,” an idea to which the
scientists of the day were forcibly opposed. He challenged the Aristotelian
philosophy of science that had guided scientists for centuries in favor of the
newer philosophy of science that placed observation in a primary role of
analysis. He supported the heliocentric concept of the solar system with
Galileo, Copernicus and Kepler before it became known by that name. In
capitalistic spirit (admirable in the eyes of most Americans), he sought glory,
wealth and a title of nobility by opening new trade routes to China and Japan.
Most importantly, though, Columbus discovered the
American continental coast and recorded the voyage in a way that enabled others
to repeat the feat. The real achievement worthy of holidays, monuments and
namesake cities is that he opened a route that could be sailed again by himself
and others. It is Columbus’ method of discovery and record-keeping that
distinguishes him from other explorers who may previously have “discovered” the
New World. He opened the door to further discovery by explorers like Magellan,
Cooke, Drake and Hudson. His discovery led to the creation of the greatest
nation on Earth, the United States of America.
Unfortunately, Columbus Day has become controversial, and Social Justice Warriors have been
claiming the day instead for “Indigenous People.” If there have been widespread
panel discussions, debates, symposiums, and hearings at local City Halls about
making this change, I have not found the reports.[UPDATE: Lawmaker takes first step to remove Columbus Day in NYC.] Why not? Initiating a tribute
to indigenous people need not involve erasing a significant part of our country’s
history.
Too bad. Instead, like the destruction of or
defacement to statues of, say Confederate General Robert E. Lee (see also here), we are witnessing more erosion and erasure of our historical and cultural heritage (report from Time.com):
Each year, more
cities, states and universities opt to celebrate an alternative to Columbus
Day: Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Instead of honoring Christopher Columbus, the Indigenous Peoples' Day recognizes
Native Americans, who were the first inhabitants of the land that later became
the United States of America. Advocates for the switch to Indigenous Peoples
Day argue that Columbus did not "discover" America in 1492 but
instead began the colonization of it. For decades, Native American activists
have advocated abolishing Columbus Day, which became a federal holiday in 1937.
This year, both Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day
are on Monday, Oct. 9.
While the United
Nations declared August 9 as
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in late 1994, Berkeley,
Calif., had already become the first city in the U.S. to replace Columbus Day
itself. The city's decision was influenced by the First Continental Conference
on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, in 1990, which spurred
another Northern California conference that discussed similar issues and
brought them to the Berkeley City Council, TIME has reported.
With the exception of Santa Cruz, Calif., and the state
of South Dakota, which adopted the similar Native American Day in place of
Columbus Day in 1990, the cities, states and universities that have chosen to
celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead have done so only recently, with
cities like Minneapolis and Seattle voting to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day
instead in 2014.
Not surprisingly, the only Ohio city or town
on Time's list is Oberlin. But at our house, we’ll be toasting Christopher Columbus.
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