By Robyn Forbes
When Americans celebrate something, or someone, we are showing the world just how important that thing is to us. We are saying it is deserving of our time, our attention, our laud. Usually, we’re celebrating something good: an anniversary of freedom, a day of kindness, the accomplishments of a selfless activist. We celebrate those things, more specifically those types of people, because the change they’ve made in the world around them has been for the greater good. More often than not they are recognized for achieving that change in a rather peaceful way.
We do not celebrate Adolf Hitler who changed the world by snatching people from their homes and obliterating whole generations, or Osama bin Laden who did so by promoting terrorism on a global stage. Likewise, we should not celebrate Christopher Columbus who changed the world by terrorising indigenous people and exploiting them on their own land only to build an empire for his kind on top of it.
When we as Americans choose to celebrate Christopher Columbus we are, without saying anything, promoting his attitude towards indigenous peoples. It is a slap in the face to those in this country whose forefathers were displaced and who continue to suffer racial and ethnic discrimination.
But why do we celebrate him for stumbling upon the Americas when he was really on a quest for profitable spices? Do we believe that his methods are excusable because his “discovery” led to the conception of the nation we call home?
Why we choose to commemorate Columbus Day is a separate issue of our societal values, but the immediate problem is that we recognize this man as a historical hero. We teach our children to remember him with catchy maxims: ‘In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.’ What Christopher Columbus really did, which should matter much more to us, is lay the foundation for white supremacy in the United States, and the genocide he committed against Native Americans is hardly recognized for what it is.
It’s important to discuss the issue of commemoration vs. celebration. Columbus Day is a prime example of paying homage to the wrong side of history. More than 50 American cities have already made the switch from celebrating Columbus Day to celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Really, it makes more sense. Instead of celebrating the destructive methods of colonization —not discovery— these cities are choosing to recognize the significance of the culture that has survived that adversity and celebrate what indigenous people bring to the table.
There are places in the U.S., like Brunswick, Maine, that celebrate both. I know. It is so ironic that it’s almost comical. To have juxtaposed a day commemorating Native Americans and their culture and fight to hold their footing in this country, and a day commemorating the life and accomplishments of the man who initiated the sorrows of the Native Americans is ridiculously indecisive. We cannot genuinely honor either of these if we attempt to honor both. However, contrary to our tendencies, we must choose.
Getting rid of Columbus Day is not eliminating him from the history books, because like it or not, he played a pivotal role in the development of the Americas into what they have become. But if we really want to stand by the morals that we as Americans love to say we have, then we should choose to leave Columbus as just that: a pivotal individual in the development of the Americas — not a celebrated figure.
