On returning from the library the other day, I was confronted with a sign on my dormitory door that read "Christopher Columbus: wanted for grand theft, genocide, racism, initiating the destruction of a culture, rape, torture, maiming of indigenous people and instigator of the big lie."
Upon reading this sign, the first question that arose in my mind was, "What's the origin of Columbus Day, anyway?"
Many anti-Columbus Day organizations claim that the celebration of Columbus Day perpetuates the myth that the already-inhabited United States was "discovered" by Columbus in 1492 and that Native Americans were not influential actors in U.S. history. It would help, however, to first look at the origin of Columbus Day before debating the meaning of the holiday. The first known celebration of Christopher Columbus' voyage was in 1792, when the Colombian Order of New York City honored the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Bahamas. The next known celebration was in 1866, when the Italian population of New York City organized the first Columbus Day celebration. In 1869 the Italians of San Francisco imitated this celebration, calling it C-Day. The first state to recognize Columbus Day was Colorado, in 1905. In 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day October 12, and Congress declared it a federal holiday in 1971.
The original purpose of Columbus Day was to celebrate Italian-American heritage. Surely, institutions such as Brown do not observe Columbus Day as an anti-Native statement or as a pro-Italian statement, but rather as simply a day off work. Many students may not realize this, but Brown also observes V-J Day - Victory Over Japan day, which celebrates the dropping of the atomic bombs every second Monday of August - a holiday that is now observed only in Rhode Island.
I come from Manville, R.I., from the French Canadian village of my town. Rhode Island could use a break from ethnic divide. Partially due to Rhode Island's industrial history and partially due to societal tensions, Rhode Island remains what I consider the most ethnically segregated state in the country. Many places, such as South Dakota, Berkeley and Latin America celebrate Columbus Day as an Indigenous Peoples' Day. Yet the best solution is to draw our attention away from making delineations between ethnicities and abolish the day altogether.
The flaws in the teaching of Native American history are the result of the over-simplification of race and historical concepts being taught at elementary levels, not a racism inherent to Columbus Day or our nation. Columbus Day is not "honoring a person who opened the door to European colonization and the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade"; rather, it is a day promoting historical lessons. Perhaps a "U.S. History" day could take the place of Columbus Day. Emphasis could be placed upon analyzing the history of our land from all perspectives - because, honestly, there aren't two people reading this article who have identical ties to U.S. land.
Laura Martin '06 purses her lips thoughtfully.
