A New Name For Columbus Holiday
I love the Common Dreams folks. They are a political action group that accepts no advertising or corporate sponsorship and the site is deep with news, opinions and updates from the Progessive side of the political world. That is were I found this Op/Ed piece, originally from Friday's Denver Post by Reggie Rivers. Rivers, a former Denver Bronco, a former Denver talk radio host and generally a decent guy, is proposing we end some of the infighting and squabbling surrounding Columbus Day by changing the name of the holiday. In a state with a large Hispanic and Native American population, as well as a large Italian American population, the issue ignites every year. And both sides are correct. Columbus is an important historical figure and should be remembered in our textbooks. However the national tragedy that is the history of the indiginous people of this continent should also never be forgotten. Maybe dedicating the day to just the Italian explorer and not the death and destruction that came with it is not a healing move. Now, as Reggie writes, what to name the holiday is still the great question.
posted by majikwah @ 10/13/2003 11:54:00 AM
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