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Young and old, the country began to rethink the second Monday of October, collectively wondering if a holiday dedicated to Christopher Columbus reflected the country that we are or want to become.
Last year, Los Angeles became the largest city to date to stop celebrating the Italian explorer and to honor the indigenous peoples whose lives were destroyed by slavery, violence, colonialism and looting that Columbus reportedly released.
This year, Columbus, Ohio, named after the explorer himself, finally unplugged. He canceled his own Columbus Day celebration at an 18-hectare park like Disney Epcot, built in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his famous trip. Even then, the opening of the park sparked strong protests from indigenous activists.
But instead of citing politics or the growing movement to embrace Aboriginal Peoples Day, the mayor's office said the budget was to blame; the city does not have the funds to provide 8,500 employees with two holidays. "We have chosen to close Veterans Day instead of Columbus Day to honor those who have served our country," said a spokesman. The Washington Post.
All that brings you there.
More than a dozen US cities, including San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Cincinnati and Austin, Texas, and at least 16 states, including Alaska, Minnesota, Vermont, the United States, the United States, and the United States. Oregon and Hawaii have all abandoned the Columbus Day celebrations to celebrate the Day in a form. "Columbus Day is a vestige of an outdated and simplified version to the extreme of history," wrote Joe Cutatone, Mayor of Somerville, Mass, when announcing the decision last month.
Not everyone is happy with the change. Many Italian-American groups see this holiday as a means of celebrating their own survival as immigrants and not the erasure of the pain of someone else. "We have been through very difficult times in this country for over a hundred years," said the Associated Press, Basil Russo, of the Italian Order of Sons and Daughters. "Columbus Day is a day we have chosen to celebrate our identity. And we have the right to do it, just as they have the right to celebrate who they are. "
But Cutatone says it's not the only way to celebrate. "This question is very similar to the Confederate flag of the Southerners," he told CNN. "As an Italian-American, it's nice to know that a holiday is officially for us. Yet, the details of this vacation are so deeply rooted in human suffering that we must move our pride elsewhere. "
The debate is measured, sincere and effective – especially if you are ready to forget the ways in which many Aboriginal communities in North America have not yet found the most basic relief from the past. legacy of their treatment: abandoned by the economic system, stricken by poverty, environmental toxins and violence, while they are parodied as mascots of teams belonging to millionaires.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, but this seems to be a step in the right direction.
This may be because the problem has not been taken seriously by right-wing decision-makers who may not be willing to make space under their tiny tent for the descendants of Columbus.
But I'd really like to believe that it's also because there's no defense for what Columbus did or what finally happened to people who, as the bitter farce says, found him standing on their beach.
The debate on Columbus Day seems to be a vision of ourselves that seems more and more unknown to us: we can talk about hard things and survive. We can think of the past with compassion for others and for ourselves. And nobody must disappear.
Enjoy the new Native women's poetry here. Here's a fascinating map of pre-colonial Aboriginal lands, if you want to know who lived in your city before the arrival of the 'settlers'.
This column is an updated version of a version similar to that of last year.
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