
I’ve always felt conflicted about Columbus Day. On the one hand, as a descendent of Italian immigrants, I appreciate and understand that the Italian-American community views it as essentially “Italian-American Appreciation Day.” And the fact that it arrives smack-dab in the middle of peak foliage has always given me a reason to take the Monday off and go hike a nearby pike. On the other hand, every year it gets harder and harder for me to justify a national holiday for a man who (1) didn’t “discover” America (or, for that matter, ever even set foot on U.S. soil) and (2) who unabashedly brutalized native people, setting the stage for centuries of exploitation, slavery and disease among millions of Native Americans.
Four states — Alaska, Hawai’i, Oregon and South Dakota don’t recognize Columbus Day (South Dakota still has the holiday, which it calls “Native American Day”). I would propose that, like South Dakota, we keep the holiday (I still want the day off for me my peak foliage hike). But let’s instead call it “National Reconciliation Day,” and use the day to reflect on what we can do to recognize the mistakes of the past lest they be forgotten and repeated.
Before Martin Luther King Day became an official holiday, many businesses closed their doors anyway in celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy. Henceforth, I am going to take the opposite tack with Columbus Day. Foliage or no foliage, until the holiday is changed to celebrate something other than the terrible fate of millions of people, I will henceforth be in the office and at work on the second Monday of October.