Roy Exum
There are 10 Federal holidays every year and today marks the most disliked; the only people who like ‘Columbus Day’ are government workers and the employees of banks. When we were in the first grade, we were taught to sing: “In 14 hundred, and 92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” but, in the years later, have we learned that on Oct. 12, 1492, ole Christopher ran aground at some island in the Bahamas; a long way away from Plymouth Rock. And not just that! Columbus had the morals of the very worse pirate.
Not only did he introduce enough new diseases to “the Americas” that would make our Centers for Disease Control blanche, he initiated one of the worst human genocides in world history.
In 1492 it is estimated that there were between 10 to 15 million indigenous people (Native Americans) in what is today the United States. Within the next 400 years that number would be most violently reduced to an estimated 300,000. Among the fiendish acts was the nauseated scourge known as the ‘Trail of Tears,’ which you may agree still ranks among our nation’s worst crimes against mankind. There was a huge question of whether to exterminate the rest or attempt to “civilize” them. (In 1851, the State of California legislature appropriated $1 million to pay for the scalps of any male, female, or infant of an “injun.”)
And then there is the slavery thing. The blood-thirsty lout known as Christopher Columbus – that’s right, the same guy -- had boatloads of indigenous slaves shipped back to Spain to be sold as chattel, creating a need for more “lesser than human” slaves elsewhere in Europe. Then, by creating new shipping routes to America, the slave traders dipped into the African pool to supply the United States.
So you see, as first graders we were sold on a completely fictitious “discoverer” who was most certainly not the first to discover our ‘Land of Opportunity,’ but, more on point, was a warped and sadistic monster who would later become a hero to Adolph Hitler. ‘The Fuhrer’ also wanted to rid Europe of “undesirables, just the same as the “Nordics” had done in the West. Hitler openly boasted “a similar process will repeat itself” in the East.
The present-day resentment against Columbus was initiated about 30 years ago when the state of South Dakota removed itself from the now-dubious shadow of Columbus. There it began “National Indigenous People’s Day.” Since then, 13 other states and the District of Columbia have done the same thing. This includes Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
In April of this year, Arizona Governor Michelle Grisham signed legislation for her state to celebrate “National Indigenous People’s Day” and, a couple of weeks ago, Washington D.C. pushed “emergency legislation” to do the same in the nation’s capital, but it takes 225 days before approval can be granted. It is widely believed that a majority of other states are considering similar legislation.
In March, Colorado Governor Jerod Polis abolished Columbus Day but the oncoming coronavirus emergency caused many to pay little attention. It is no more than a lawmakers’ task to add Colorado to the list of states that next year will honor Native Americans – and not Columbus.
Glenn Morris, a political science expert and a Director of the 4th World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics, explained to the Denver Post why indigenous and black people oppose Columbus Day: “First, it is a holiday that celebrates Columbus, who was an African slave trader and who then also began the genocide against indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. He deserves no holidays, statues, or celebrations.
“Second,” added Morris, Columbus Day celebrates the invasion and colonization of the Americas, through the Doctrine of Christian Discovery, which is a U.S. legal doctrine that justifies the theft of indigenous peoples’ territories and the destruction of indigenous nations to the present time.”
It would seem as though there is no reason for Congress not to change the name of the holiday, other than the fact most first graders cannot successfully pronounce nor correctly spell “indigenous.” There is some pushback because Italians believe the day celebrates the Italians in the United States. Christopher, you’ll recall, sailed for Italy, from Spain, and served as governor of Hispaniola. During this ‘Year of Statue Removal,’ rioters in Richmond, Va., threw his likeness into a lake but, in Italy, Columbus is still “a great explorer and the discoverer of America.”
Because of the Italian connection, seven earlier attempts by Colorado to replace Columbus Day with a National Indigenous Peoples’ Day did not pass at the state level. Instead, various cities in Colorado - Denver, Durango, Boulder, and Aspen - chose to officially acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ Day. But, earlier this year, a compromise was reached when it was agreed that Colorado should honor and celebrate Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian American woman and patron saint of immigrants. This compromise eliminated honoring the explorer who set in motion the genocide of Native Americans while also appeasing Italian Americans who want to celebrate their heritage.
So, the good guess here is this will be well to nigh the end of Columbus Day in the United States and we will celebrate instead our Native American Indians whose story of survival – against us – should take its place among our archives.
Of all the citizens of the United State, it could be we have treated our Native Americans worse than any other group of singular Americans in our history. We have parked the tribes on “reservations” that are notoriously underfunded. There are Native American youth who have a dropout of 50 percent in high schools. They are the lowest ethnic group to be found on our college rolls. And imagine this…Native Americans have the highest incidence of suicide in the United States.
The reservations have robbed our Native Americans of any vestiges of self-worth, of all ancestral pride and – most criminally – hope. Let’s encourage a “National Indigenous People Day” to trigger a heart-felt effort for this nation to redeem a responsibility, a respect, and a promise to those who were here first. Let’s make this right.
royexum@aol.com