Seattle re-names Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day

[Shepherd]

History is not only what has happened, but what is happening now and in the future. The following transcript of an interview on Democracy Now radio and TV show by Amy Goodman is an example. In recent years there has been a call by many to re-name Columbus Day to honor the hundreds of thousands of innocent people Columbus was responsible for enslaving and murdering. The Seattle City Council has renamed this day, thus correcting a false image of who Columbus was. Every year for a long time I read to my college students from the opening words of historian Howard Zinn's "People's History of the United States," which documents what a butcher, no hero, Columbus was.
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Seattle Marks Indigenous Peoples’ Day Amid Calls to End Federal Holiday Celebrating Columbus

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014
Seattle Marks Indigenous Peoples’ Day Amid Calls to End Federal Holiday Celebrating Columbus

Today marks Columbus Day, a federal holiday to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the so-called "New World" in 1492. But the holiday has long evoked sadness and anger among Native Americans, who object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples, and the slave trade. Last Monday, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to celebrate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the encouragement of indigenous activists — joining many other cities and states with non-Columbus Day holidays. "We’re making sure that we acknowledge the absolute horrors of colonization and conquering that happened in the Americas at the hands of the European so-called explorers, and Columbus was one of the primary instigators," says Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, one of the sponsors of the resolution to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, a nationwide organization of social and economic justice activists.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Today marks Columbus Day, a federal holiday to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the so-called "New World" in 1492. But the holiday has long evoked sadness and anger among Native Americans, who object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples, and the slave trade. Their outrage has led to campaigns like this one.

RECONSIDER COLUMBUS DAY AD: Columbus committed heinous crimes against the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and millions of natives throughout the Americas. And Columbus set the stage for the slave trade in the New World. So, please, please reconsider if this is a man you want to honor. Reconsider if you want to celebrate the crimes of Columbus. It’s not your fault; it happened a long time ago. But remaining neutral and pretending like it didn’t happen, or that it doesn’t still impact us today? So, please, take a day to learn the whole story. Celebrate the people who were here first. Petition for a nationally recognized indigenous holiday.

AMY GOODMAN: ReconsiderColumbus.org, that project. Well, last Monday, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to celebrate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Seattle is not the first place to give the holiday another name. This year, the Minneapolis City Council also renamed Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In South Dakota, the holiday is celebrated as Native American Day, while Hawaii observes Discoverers’ Day, which honors Polynesian explorers.

For more, we go to Seattle, Washington, where we’re joined by the Socialist city councilmember, Kshama Sawant, one of the sponsors of the resolution to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, that passed. Since taking office in January, she has also helped win a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all workers in Seattle. She’s a member of the Socialist Alternative, a nationwide organization of social and economic justice activists.

Kshama Sawant, welcome back to Democracy Now! Talk about this resolution that you got passed in the Seattle City Council.

KSHAMA SAWANT: Well, thank you for having me here, Amy. And first of all, I should say all the thanks for the amazing resolution we’ve passed go to the indigenous activists themselves, who brought this forward. And it’s an important milestone that we’ve had in all these cities—Berkeley in 1992, Minneapolis, Seattle and so on—because we’re making sure that we acknowledge the absolute horrors of colonization and conquering that happened in the Americas at the hands of the European so-called explorers. And Columbus was one of the primary instigators. He was a prolific slave owner. He was, not only single-handedly, but as a part of this European mission to plunder and pillage, responsible for mass enslavement and a genocide, which reduced the population of the indigenous communities from anywhere close to 150 million to a few thousand in just a mere matter of decades.

And I think we should clarify that some people have seen this as a slight against Italian Americans. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As a matter of fact, we should celebrate an Italian Heritage Day to celebrate the culture of the Italian community and also to celebrate the wonderful, courageous work that Italian Americans have done in their fight against racism, in their leading work in the early labor movements of the United States and the work they’re doing today as social justice activists.

Continues here.