Cancelling Columbus Day
Columbus, Ohio is making big changes to the holidays that they will recognize this year. They have chosen not to observe Columbus Day as a paid day off for workers, but will instead acknowledge Veterans day, which they had not done previously. The city believes that Veterans should be honored for what they have done for this country, as they stray away from honoring Christopher Columbus, who has been criticized for being a cause of the annexation of Native American land. This is an important change, and the city of Columbus is joining the movement of being more critical of America’s past mistakes.
Although the switch in holidays seems like something that most people would support, or wouldn’t be affected by, it has brought about some controversy. A columbus citizen posted his opinion to the local news channel through Facebook by saying, “‘Socialism in action. Our Capital City is even named after Christopher Columbus. How stupid of Mayor Ginther to perpetrate this embarrassment for our City!’ - Larry W. Hutcheson” (Cappell). Some people take this viewpoint because they value that aspect of the nation’s history, and see Columbus as an important person to the Italian heritage. Columbus Day has been considered a national holiday since the 1930’s, but in recent years, states have been moving away from giving workers a paid day off.
The city of Columbus, Ohio has followed suit of the many places around the U.S. that have started bringing attention to the terrible things that have happened to the Native Americans because of Christopher Columbus. “Critics of Columbus complain that the holiday mythologizes a man blamed for bringing slavery and death to the ‘New World’” (Cappell). States like Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota have also made the move away from recognizing Columbus Day, and alternatively celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day. Although the city of Columbus hasn’t gone as far as to observe that as a day off, they do understand that there are many other groups of people that are more deserving of recognition.
The mayor of Columbus is shifting the attention to the newly observed holiday of Veterans Day. Robin Davis, the director of media relations for Mayor Andrew Ginther, expressed his enthusiasm for this revision in an email to NPR. "Columbus is home to 110,000 veterans. We are excited to be able to honor those who have served our country by observing Veterans Day this year” (Cappell). The reaction of the citizens is more or less the same. Many people are happy to see the veterans celebrated, especially those who view Christopher Columbus as a bad person. Veterans Day honors those who fight to protect this country, not someone who took it away from those who first inhabited it.
Despite the controversy, Columbus, Ohio has made the decision to change the holiday that its workers will take off this year. This change has sparked some debate between people who want to preserve the history of the city’s namesake and those who figure there are better people to honor with a day off of work. Columbus Day will no longer be observed in the city of Columbus, and instead U.S. veterans will be commemorated starting this year. This shift will bring attention away from Christopher Columbus, whose actions led to the decimation of Native Americans, and celebrate a more positive contribution to America.
Wow! Very big news from the city of Columbus. I think in the next few years this will happen more, where days that glorify historical figures who weren't good people get removed and perhaps replaced.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great move by the city of Columbus to appeal to the masses, sometimes the doing the right thing isn't always the most popular but it needs tobe done in the long term. Many cities will have todo this in the future and endure the backlash just as Columbus is doing now
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that this was happening, but I'm glad it is and hope it eventually happens in other cities and states. I think it's great that Veteran's Day is the new focus. Your writing was really clear and concise and I liked your use of quotes.
ReplyDeleteI do like this change because honoring our veterans should be done. This is interesting that we would even need to have school or work off for Columbus day. I see no reason why we would. This paper did a good job outlining the feeling of both sides in the conflict.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see this happening in Ohio, which I'd consider to be in a more conservative part of the country, but I'm glad Columbus choose to do this. In my home state we celebrate both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, but people only get off work for Columbus Day. I'm curious whether or not you think this change is a good thing or not?
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