​Columbus Day vs. Indigenous People’s Day

By Eugene Barnes
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Contrary to popular opinion, Columbus didn't discover America. The truth is Columbus actually landed in South America and didn’t discover it.
 
In 1934 the president at the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Columbus Day as a federal holiday and would be celebrated on October 12. In 1971 Columbus Day was changed to the second Monday of October. In October of 2021 President Joe Biden signed the first presidential proclamation to officially change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. The changes caused a lot of controversy within the country.
 
I talked to Mr. Bethmann, a teacher at an East High School who comes from a Native background and got his opinion on the change. Here's what he had to say: “I think generally most Native people feel good about the change, at least the people in my circle.” I also asked Mr. Bethmann how he thinks this change should affect the way our kids should be taught about the subject and he said, “For me, and for my parents probably, teachers only taught the benefits of this encounter and not the consequences. What's more important though, I think, is that the idea of Columbus Day by itself completely diminishes modern day Native American people. Teachers should include their voices and perspectives.”
 
The change from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day is a change that can better our country and better the knowledge within our country, and allow people within the indigenous community share information that would give most people in America a better perspective on how we perceive the history in our country.