Columbus Day Changed

Given that the European explorer has a U.S. federal holiday to his name - and is honored by holidays in other countries as well - Christopher Columbus did not actually discover America or prove that the Earth wasn't flat.

PSU English professors Robin DeRosa and Elizabeth Ahl staged a "work-in" protest last fall regarding the University's observance of Columbus Day. Earlier this semester the duo sent around a petition (signed by dozens of PSU faculty) to the Provost, Julie Bernier, asking that PSU refer to this day on the academic calendar as "Fall Holiday" instead of "Columbus Day." As of last week, Provost Bernier agreed to the request, and has made it effective.

"Nothing will change in terms of the calendar-- only the name will be different.  We will still have no class that day.  The day will be renamed "Fall Holiday."  People will be free to celebrate Columbus, critique him, or ignore him as they see fit," said Robin DeRosa, English Professor & Fall Holiday advocate.

DeRosa and Ahl decided to take a strong position on the matter by staging a protest on campus last October on the "Columbus Day" holiday. "We set up a makeshift office on the green and worked through the holiday. We also disseminated some literature about Christopher Columbus to explain why we want to make this name change on the Academic Calendar," said DeRosa.

"I think it's a good idea... Columbus was a genocidal maniac! I enjoyed Robin DeRosa and Liz Ahl boycotting Columbus Day last year and setting up their offices on the green in front of the hub to protest the day," said senior Keith Bouchard.

Though some may not have an opinion on the matter, those who are scholarly inclined to know the history of America in its entirety know that Christopher Columbus was not all what he has been chalked up to be. "Christopher Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade; he sold and traded women into sexual slavery; and he led a successful, intentional, brutal, and complete genocide against the Arawak Indians and for the cultural decimation of many other Native American tribes. There is virtually no scholarly disagreement about these facts," said DeRosa.

Some believe Columbus Day should be renamed after realizing indigenous people during that time period suffered immensely under the reign of Columbus. [Indigenous Peoples Day is a recognized holiday that replaces Columbus Day in several US cities, for example.] "My request is simpler: just call it "Fall Holiday." People can honor or critique Columbus as they see fit. But Plymouth State doesn't need to be in the business of endorsing the acts of this man," said DeRosa.

Any American history course will inform people that Columbus was in fact not the first non-indigenous person to travel to the Americas; he was not the first person to suggest that the earth was round (Columbus thought it was shaped like a pear); and he was personally implicated in brutal crimes against native people (including sexual crimes against women and girls) by those who traveled with him.

"I understand that all holidays named after particular individuals probably engage in hero-worship that flatters real people into caricatures, but it is historically inaccurate to credit Columbus with the discovery of America, and it is grossly damaging to our national history to obscure his brutal programme against Native people and the devastating repercussions that it has had on their culture over time.  Changing the name won't do much to undo Columbus' legacy, but it might help us begin to take a more honest and balanced account of our national past," said DeRosa.

"The idea that Christopher Columbus is recognized at all is beyond me. His great accomplishment was the destruction of an entire population. As Americans how can we celebrate a holocaust when over 70 years ago we tried to stop one? I feel "fall holiday" would be a better fit," said junior Chris Hill.

Ahl and DeRosa worked with alongside PSU history professor, Dr. John Krueckeberg, to draft a letter to the Provost asking her to take steps to change the name of the Columbus Day holiday on the PSU calendar.

The letter was circulated amongst a small group, not wide-scale, and ultimately received 35 signatures. "That's just the number of people who heard what we were doing and asked to be included in the request.  I sent the letter to Provost Bernier, and she wrote back to say she would bring it forward for consideration," said DeRosa.  On Mar. 15 Bernier wrote back, and told us all to consider it done," said DeRosa.

"There is a strong national movement to rethink the name of the holiday already, said DeRosa. For various reasons other places around the world refer to the holiday in different ways. For instance, California refers to it as "Indigenous Peoples Day," South Dakota calls it "Native American Day," and Alabama celebrates a combination of Columbus Day and "Indigenous Peoples Day."

"I support any change to that archaic holiday. Columbus Day is problematic at best. At its worst, the holiday celebrates white supremacy by acknowledging the beginning of a genocide as the beginning of American time. The switch to "Fall Holiday" would reflect the concern for human equality that is now considered both normal and moral. In 1492, that was just bad business. Such a name change would tremendously improve the current holiday," said Edith Kuzma.

"For people that don't know the true history of Christopher Columbus, they probably don't have a strong opinion on the matter hence don't see the need for a change. But, for those that do know what Columbus did, I see the change to "Fall Holiday" as a proper replacement," said junior Katlyn Hall.