Celebrating Christopher Columbus or Indigenous Peoples, America is torn apart by a holiday

Celebrating Christopher Columbus or Indigenous Peoples, America is torn apart by a holiday

“Columbus Day” or “Indigenous Peoples Day”, you have to choose. For the first time in the United States, the second Monday in October, a federal holiday traditionally commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America, was celebrated as Indigenous Peoples Day.

The American Indians, who see Christopher Columbus as a symbol of white colonialism, praised the Biden administration’s decision, which made waves among conservatives, who denounced a new paradigm. get up ” from ” cancel culture ».

“Colonialism and Genocide”

While Indigenous Peoples Day dates back to the 1990s, Joe Biden is the first US president to be recognized at the federal level. Technically, the White House did not cancel Columbus Day. Joe Biden’s announcement recognizes the two legal holidays. States and municipalities are free to control one or both of them. Dozens of states, including Alaska, New Mexico, and Oregon, in particular, have shelved Christopher Columbus, and dozens of other states are celebrating the holidays.

The Navajo Nation has long opposed Columbus Day, which celebrates colonialism, oppression, and injustice inflicted on indigenous peoples. Christopher Columbus is credited by some with “discovering” America, but these lands were once inhabited by many peoples with advanced cultures. Representatives of the semi-autonomous Amerindian Territory have said for generations that indigenous communities struggle to survive in the face of colonization, assimilation, disease, and genocide.

‘erase our history’

In recent years, the United States has conducted a self-examination. The controversy surrounding the dark pages of American history has notably led to a withdrawal Many statues of Confederate generals. Last year, statues of Christopher Columbus were also removed in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Exposed by protesters in Baltimore. Then Donald Trump denounced in his speech “trying to erase our history”, called Christopher Columbus “Explorer of America”.

Monday, polemicist Ben Shapiro hailed a “national hero.” “Today is Columbus Day, no one will be able to rewrite history,” said Marsha Blackburn, a Senator from Tennessee. Lou Barletta, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, finally denounced “the attempt to erase our Italian history,” concluding, “I refuse to surrender to the herd.” get up from cancel culture. »

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