Should Columbus Day be replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day is held every year on the second Monday in October.
The controversy surrounding Columbus Day has two sides to it. While some believe it celebrates the man who found new land that started America, others see it as a day in history that native American land was stolen and colonized. Since the 19th-century opposing viewpoints have been debated this day.
The beginning of colonization started major points in American history. Shortly after Columbus arrived many diseases followed including smallpox and the flu. Warfare broke out between natives and colonizers and slavery began. It also was the beginning of immigration. Columbuses voyage also introduced an exchange of new plants and animals between the eastern and western hemispheres.
Italian Americans today celebrate Columbus Day not for the land that was discovered but because of the better lives their families could have because of immigration. Many families moved to New York where they started their lives again and created businesses.
South Dakota was the first state to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 1990 and now 11 states including Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia do too. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a day of celebration of native American culture and education. On this Monday in October Italian-Americans and Native Americans celebrate their cultures through parades, pow wows and traditional events.
So should Columbus Day be replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day is one holiday that will have opposing viewpoints and will be debated by people for a long time.
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