Columbus Day, a time to stay home from work and nationally celebrate denial of genocide, theft, slavery and colonization. The foundations of this country.
This summer the term “Columbusing” took hold, to name the phenomenon of “discovering things for white people.”
The time-old “art of discovering something that is not new” and appropriating it. This is a helpful term. And, as a White Noise Collective member recently pointed out, a video depicting current day “Columbusing” would not just include discovering something that had already been found by others. More accurately, it would include white people “discovering” a place they like, and then cutting off everyone’s hands and massacring those who were already there.
As we know, there have been important moves in a number of cities and states to bury Columbus Day and in its place celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.
On the Colbert Report, the predictable “War on Columbus Day” (echoing the “War on Christmas”) backlash to the re-naming of this holiday is thoroughly mocked.
Hari Kondabolu makes known his wish for Columbus Day, for Italian-Americans to celebrate some other dude, such as Joe DiMaggio, who has no career genocides. He reminds us that Columbus is why he has to explain to people that he is Indian, from India.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlFyn1Ip6q4
John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight takes aim at this national holiday by asking “how is this still a thing?” And also offers some possibilities for other famous Italian-Americans that could represent pride. Of course, all the suggestions are male, but clearly Madonna would be the best for a parade.
It would also be helpful if “discovered” was replaced with “invaded” in all history textbooks and teaching. Unlearning national mythologies takes time, but there’s been beyond enough time. The Sopranos Columbus episode shows the power of A People’s History to regain contact with reality. (Rest in Peace, Howard Zinn and James Gandolfini).
From Native sketch comedy group the 1491s:
* Psychosis is a loss of contact with reality.
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