Today is the second Monday in October and the day we celebrate the federal holiday honoring Christopher Columbus. Last year I posted some thoughts on the matter. Here they are again (with a few inconsequential edits):
NewMexiKen is well aware of the feelings among many American Indians and others about Columbus Day. One Lakota woman who worked for me used to ask if—as a protest—she could come in and work on Columbus Day, a federal holiday.
My feeling is that we can’t have enough holidays and so I choose to think of Columbus Day as the Italian-American holiday. Nothing wrong with that. We have an African-American holiday on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. We have the Irish-American celebration that is St. Patrick’s Day. And Cinco de Mayo is surely the Mexican-American holiday, a much larger celebration here than in most of Mexico.
So, instead of protesting Columbus Day, perhaps American Indians should organize and bring about a holiday of their very own. Given the great diversity among Indian nations (and, lets face it, a proclivity for endless debate), the tribes might never reach agreement, though, so NewMexiKen will suggest a date.
The day before Columbus Day.
I disagree that MLK Jr. Day is the “African-American holiday.” It’s to commemorate that individual, like Lincoln’s birthday is to commemorate Lincoln. Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day, Juneteenth, and all of the other ethnic holidays are not governmental holidays, and that is fine with me. Columbus Day shouldn’t be either. I like the suggestion they made on the Ed Schultz show — eliminate Columbus Day as a holiday and make Election Day a national day off from work.