A Day Not To Celebrate
Once again it is officially Columbus Day in the United States. I’ll repeat here much of what I’ve stated for years regarding this holiday. Celebrating the person of Christopher Columbus makes no sense and is an affront to indigenous peoples throughout the American continents. I’ll expand that to state that it is not just an affront to native peoples, but to anyone and everyone that has experienced tyranny of any sort. Add to that the fact that as a federal holiday, it makes no sense to observe.
The United States officially celebrates ten holidays each year. They are:
• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
• Washington’s Birthday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans’ Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day
With the exceptions of New Year’s Day, Columbus Day, and Christmas Day, our federal holidays have something significant to do with who we are as citizens of the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and Washington’s birthday honor two great Americans that lead a significant movement in the existence and growth of the United States. Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, and Veterans’ Day honor those Americans who fought with bravery and honor to defend the United States and to make a better life for all Americans. Thanksgiving is a moment for us to stop, take a breath, and express our gratitude for our families, the peace and tranquility we enjoy, or whatever it is that makes us unique as a people.
January 1st is celebrated the world over as New Year’s Day. It certainly is not unique to the American experience, but it is important to us. The one aspect of this holiday that speaks to us as a people is its insistence that we look forward. As a rule Americans are a forward looking people. We look to what new architectural gems we can build this year, how many solar panels we can construct this year, how many cases of cancer we can cure this year. New Year’s Day for us represents a moment to take stock of who we are right now and make a plan for what we can become in twelve months.
Some might wish that we didn’t celebrate Christmas. I’ll admit that. It is primarily a religious holiday. Celebrating it while officially ignoring Hanukakah, Ramadan, or Diwali, seems a bit narrow. However, for most Americans Christmas has taken on a particular meaning that goes beyond celebrating the birth of Jesus. It takes the essence of Christianity, the admonition to “love thy neighbor,” and gives both Christian and non-Christian the opportunity to give of oneself. Perhaps I am stretching a bit to justify a holiday I personally enjoy, but I guess that is my prerogative.
Some might argue that so many atrocities have been committed in the name of Christianity that we shouldn’t, as a nation, celebrate Christmas. Some might argue that it violates the First Amendment. All of those arguments are valid. On the other hand, and if I may stretch a bit further, the birth of Jesus represents a moment of innocence. The concept of a newborn child coming to bring peace and joy to a terribly flawed world is a message of hope we need now more than ever. Ultimately, for us as Americans, Christmas is an allegorical holiday giving us hope in those newborn children that will grow up and liberate us from the stranglehold of fossil fuels, heal our deep divisions, and build a United States that is free from inequality and injustice.
Columbus Day, on the other hand, has no place on the official American calendar. What exactly is it that we celebrate about Columbus? Are we celebrating a terrible navigator that accidently landed on the wrong continent? Are we celebrating the tyrant, who enslaved, tortured, and brutalized native populations and governed his own colony so horribly that his queen had him hauled back to Spain in chains? I hope not.
Some in favor of this holiday might suggest that it represents the coming together of peoples of two continents, that without Columbus there could be no United States. Despite the obvious flaws of such an argument, its premise is fundamentally flawed. Columbus and European colonization are facts of history, but if it is European colonization that we celebrate with Columbus Day, I want no part of that. Columbus represents the advent of a massive invasion of conquerors hostile to the peace and tranquility enjoyed by most Americans prior to 1492. It is the advent of the American holocaust.
The fact is that European technology and industry had reached a stage in 1492 that would have brought a flood of explorers to the American continents whether or not there had been a Columbus. Whether the invasion had been led by Hernan Cortez, Samuel de Champlain, or Henry Hudson the outcome likely would have been the same. Aggressive and technologically advanced Europeans would have brutally invaded the Americas and wreaked havoc on native cultures. How it happened is a matter of history, but not something to celebrate.
There is hope that we may soon jettison this relic of brutal colonialism. At present count three states and about sixty-two cities in the United States have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Unlike Christopher Columbus, the people and cultures native to the Americas, especially North America, have made a historically significant contribution to the development of the United States. Whereas the U. S. Constitution draws heavily on English legal traditions and French Enlightenment thought, it also draws on Native American traditions of egalitarianism and localized autonomy. In fact, one might argue that the French Enlightenment was an extension of French colonial interaction with native North Americans. Most importantly, it seems fitting to take the honor away from a symbol of criminal brutality and hand it to his victims. The time has come for our federal government and the remaining cities and states to drop Columbus Day from our official calendars and replace it with an honorable alternative.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
The United States officially celebrates ten holidays each year. They are:
• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
• Washington’s Birthday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans’ Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day
With the exceptions of New Year’s Day, Columbus Day, and Christmas Day, our federal holidays have something significant to do with who we are as citizens of the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and Washington’s birthday honor two great Americans that lead a significant movement in the existence and growth of the United States. Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, and Veterans’ Day honor those Americans who fought with bravery and honor to defend the United States and to make a better life for all Americans. Thanksgiving is a moment for us to stop, take a breath, and express our gratitude for our families, the peace and tranquility we enjoy, or whatever it is that makes us unique as a people.
January 1st is celebrated the world over as New Year’s Day. It certainly is not unique to the American experience, but it is important to us. The one aspect of this holiday that speaks to us as a people is its insistence that we look forward. As a rule Americans are a forward looking people. We look to what new architectural gems we can build this year, how many solar panels we can construct this year, how many cases of cancer we can cure this year. New Year’s Day for us represents a moment to take stock of who we are right now and make a plan for what we can become in twelve months.
Some might wish that we didn’t celebrate Christmas. I’ll admit that. It is primarily a religious holiday. Celebrating it while officially ignoring Hanukakah, Ramadan, or Diwali, seems a bit narrow. However, for most Americans Christmas has taken on a particular meaning that goes beyond celebrating the birth of Jesus. It takes the essence of Christianity, the admonition to “love thy neighbor,” and gives both Christian and non-Christian the opportunity to give of oneself. Perhaps I am stretching a bit to justify a holiday I personally enjoy, but I guess that is my prerogative.
Some might argue that so many atrocities have been committed in the name of Christianity that we shouldn’t, as a nation, celebrate Christmas. Some might argue that it violates the First Amendment. All of those arguments are valid. On the other hand, and if I may stretch a bit further, the birth of Jesus represents a moment of innocence. The concept of a newborn child coming to bring peace and joy to a terribly flawed world is a message of hope we need now more than ever. Ultimately, for us as Americans, Christmas is an allegorical holiday giving us hope in those newborn children that will grow up and liberate us from the stranglehold of fossil fuels, heal our deep divisions, and build a United States that is free from inequality and injustice.
Columbus Day, on the other hand, has no place on the official American calendar. What exactly is it that we celebrate about Columbus? Are we celebrating a terrible navigator that accidently landed on the wrong continent? Are we celebrating the tyrant, who enslaved, tortured, and brutalized native populations and governed his own colony so horribly that his queen had him hauled back to Spain in chains? I hope not.
Some in favor of this holiday might suggest that it represents the coming together of peoples of two continents, that without Columbus there could be no United States. Despite the obvious flaws of such an argument, its premise is fundamentally flawed. Columbus and European colonization are facts of history, but if it is European colonization that we celebrate with Columbus Day, I want no part of that. Columbus represents the advent of a massive invasion of conquerors hostile to the peace and tranquility enjoyed by most Americans prior to 1492. It is the advent of the American holocaust.
The fact is that European technology and industry had reached a stage in 1492 that would have brought a flood of explorers to the American continents whether or not there had been a Columbus. Whether the invasion had been led by Hernan Cortez, Samuel de Champlain, or Henry Hudson the outcome likely would have been the same. Aggressive and technologically advanced Europeans would have brutally invaded the Americas and wreaked havoc on native cultures. How it happened is a matter of history, but not something to celebrate.
There is hope that we may soon jettison this relic of brutal colonialism. At present count three states and about sixty-two cities in the United States have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Unlike Christopher Columbus, the people and cultures native to the Americas, especially North America, have made a historically significant contribution to the development of the United States. Whereas the U. S. Constitution draws heavily on English legal traditions and French Enlightenment thought, it also draws on Native American traditions of egalitarianism and localized autonomy. In fact, one might argue that the French Enlightenment was an extension of French colonial interaction with native North Americans. Most importantly, it seems fitting to take the honor away from a symbol of criminal brutality and hand it to his victims. The time has come for our federal government and the remaining cities and states to drop Columbus Day from our official calendars and replace it with an honorable alternative.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
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