Columbus Day, the history, the people, the fuss, and whatever it all means
So, I was curious what the current state of Columbus Day is, so I Googled.
Still a big parade in big Italian population centers in the US: New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and elsewhere.
I'm 57, so I figured old enough to learn a bit more about the whole celebration. It never meant much to me as a kid or an adult. I don't think our schools took the day off and I am pretty sure no company I have ever worked for did either. I've never lived anywhere that had a large Italian community other than my brief stint in Connecticut.
It was surprising to learn that other countries celebrate the day, some in Latin America, and some by different names. Of course, I was already aware that some "celebrate" and anti-holiday, particularly cities that have large multicultural populations. Few states have taken such measures.
I've lived and worked in both New Mexico and Alaska, our largest Native American populous states, and observed the differences in both. One thing that stood out is that Spanish cultures sort of celebrates Columbus by proxy since he was sponsored by the crown. It was especially interesting to see how New Mexicans dealt with the conflicting heritage since many, many have both Native and Spanish blood. Few had very strong feelings in my circles. They acknowledged Natives had been shafted but it wasn't some great cause for them.
Also, I never noticed any Day of the Dead counter movements in work, but not sure why, as it is inextricably linked to Mexican pride, which is inextricably linked to its Spanish and conquistador history. It's probably too complex to be a target for the far left, so probably won't see any pushback.
It's interesting that Columbus Day won't go down to the grave quietly. It appears it may not go at all, in fact. Italian Americans are quite proud of their heritage, and when the celebration really swelled in the early 20th century, it was actually an immigrant movement, quite the opposite of the conquistador sentiments pinned by the counter-movementists today. Italians had been treated as an underclass, so the holiday was the occasion for them to own their place in the American quilt, so to speak.
One thing that might help us find a centered position instead of a strident one is for the national holiday to become Discoverers Day to enable it to be a broad umbrella instead of just Italian. St. Patrick's Day isn't a national holiday here, and there is no effort at all to observe any Chinese pride national holiday, so it may be a bit much to expect Columbus Day to be an Italian pride holiday for the nation. And it is a celebration day, not likely to get off the ground if it beats the horse of protest for long. That is probably one of the reasons for the morphing of Pride Parades, as the protest thing just loses its edge as an annual march.
And, most of the ethnic celebrations like Cinqo de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest, and others, become little more than food festivals or bar themes anyway. This is not far off from the federal military holidays that are "celebrated" by most people with recreation and non-observance in any true commemoration.
So, I go to work today as always. I have no Italian or Spanish blood to my knowledge. And I don't particularly celebrate Columbus the man, nor do I commemorate the conquest of the Americas, as I wish the Natives had been better defenders of their lands, but they weren't. I like the honest revisiting of the real events of our history, but the blame game is tiresome and not particularly more honest about history than the European biased views.
