Warning: The views represented in this post are mine and are not being forced on anyone. I offer only some thoughts and observations and of course the question of "Why?"
Today is Columbus Day here in the states. It is a federal holiday in which many non-essential services are shut down and the state and government people get a day off. I like day's off so posting this post is hard for me to do, but here we go.
I like to ask questions as anyone in my family would be quick to tell you. Three year old toddlers love to ask, "Why?" and some in my family try to draw mental age connections to my constantly questioning "the way things are." As a teacher, I have always enjoyed the long weekend holidays that seemed to be nicely sprinkled throughout the school year. What a nice time to rest and relax while recharging my internal batteries to keep my energies and spirits up.
As a child, I realized that a day named after a person must mean that the person did something pretty awesome to have the whole nation recognize his/her achievements. Martin Luther King was an easy sell for me as I immediately saw the impact that man had on all of our society even today. Over the years I have come to study each of these one day holidays and the importance they have on our society. We have parades, there are special sporting events, and local towns all have little activities set up for most of these one day (almost always on a Monday) holidays. We also have president's day which lumps together Lincoln and Washington into a little celebration of some important people. Since Lincoln and Washington were not important enough to give each one a day I really thought this Columbus dude was going to be something special. I was floored when it came to Columbus Day!
History Notes... so that people can't say this post is totally without educational merit
Like all youth, I started off asking my parents and my teachers what Chris was so important for. I got many renditions, almost like a mantra, that he was responsible for discovering the New World which lead to the formation of the U.S. Hmmm....that sounded important, so I dug deeper and asked for reading material. Many of the books seemed to state almost the exact same point of view and almost the same text. A few sources seemed to hint that Chris was not exactly a philanthropist and in fact may have been a down-right nasty person. Digging deeper, I found sources that backed up that nasty personality and I learned that Chris was a Portuguese slave trader with a very bad temper. Mr. Columbus was looking to expand his trade product looking to get into more valuable cargo like spices and of course all that legendary gold ... ahhh that true business spirit was alive and well even back then.
Directly, there is data that links Columbus's crew with the forced assimilation of at least one native population (the Tainos of the Bahamas region). Indirectly, the diseases that were home-brewed in the overpopulated Europe and introduced by Colubus's voyage managed to wipe out much of the native population. By some estimates, 80% of the existing population of the New World was destroyed by Christopher Columbus's "incredible discovery".
I love to study history and I have always been appalled with the way the United States has dealt with the native populations here on these chunks of land. I see our continued celebration of Columbus Day as not only an unworthy event to celebrate, but it seems that our culture has established a mantra that only promotes a positive outlook on what has historically been, at best, a wash.
Many had come to the "New World" before Columbus, but Chris was the first to really push for continued funding to help push a country to consider a full scale expansion (invasion?) into this region which had been mostly left alone. I am sure that someone else would have done it if Christopher Columbus had not got all the fame. I am against our continued celebration of such a controversial event.
In our politically charged society, we would not think once about electing someone to federal office that had a rap sheet like our buddy Mr. Columbus did; never mind make up a federal holiday for the bum. The exploits of Columbus's crew against the native population makes even Bill Clinton's escapades with an intern look like child's play. Why then do we perpetuate this holiday? Certainly, there are more worthy men/women in our history that have impacted our lives in much more positive ways! Two gentlemen that come right to mind are Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison. I am not sure if you have looked up these crusty old salts, but if you do, you will be absolutely amazed at the influence these two people had on our way of life even today.
Most shocking of all is what I see in our classrooms. Entire units are set up, and many hours are spent with children celebrating Columbus Day. All with the mantra of celebrating "the discovery of the New World". Students dress up and perform plays. Posters and in-class feasts are frequently observed. If I were a descendant of a people that originally called this land home, I would be pissed. Actually, I guess I do get a little hot under the collar and I am not even a "victim". Especially in our schools, institutions founded to educate people, I would hope to at least see some moderation or something other than the joys of discovery mantra.
Some schools have been able to shift the focus of celebrations from Columbus over to the bounty of harvest that is in full swing in many regions at this time of year. I know that idea muscles in on Thanksgiving's fame, but at least celebrating the fall harvest is something that can be educationally supported from most every angle ( I know some environmental people could argue something here, but we could argue about almost anything).
Some schools have been able to focus on the importance of exploration and explorers at this time of year. That's cool. We have so much of life we still don't know about and even here on Earth there are depths of the ocean we still don't know about. Students need to learn about why exploration is dangerous and important to our society. Looking at collections of explorers that may include Chris...well I could support that.
In the meantime, I will finish enjoying my day off and wait until spring, when we run into some other bizarre cultural celebrations : )
How about you? Are there national/state/local celebrations that have made you scratch your head and ask "... I wonder why?"
