After you read this article go to the Portland Press Herald where you can see readers' comments. I love these breast beating liberals bemoaning what the evil white man did to the noble red man. How easy it is to condemn someone who lived hundreds of years ago by using todays mores. In many ways they are guilty of the same false sense of superiority that they so readily attribute to Columbus and others.
Also, notice the article points out that one committee member who voted against the change was of Italian descent. This, of course, implies he is biased in favor of Columbus. Give us the ancestry of each of the people involved so we can see if their might be any prejudice there. I hate the media for reasons exactly like this.
Portland schoolchildren will continue to celebrate Columbus Day rather than "Columbus/Indigenous People's Day" or "Indigenous People's Day/Columbus Day."
A measure that would have renamed the national holiday in October to honor both the explorer and American Indians failed to gain majority support of the Portland School Committee Wednesday.
But the 4-4 vote on the proposal was encouraging to committee member Jason Toothaker, the original proponent, who said he may introduce it again next year.
"A lot of the people who voted against it spoke in support of the idea," said Toothaker, one of three Green Party members on the committee who backed the proposal.
Toothaker said he proposed the name change because Christopher Columbus exploited and spread disease among the American Indians he encountered during his 1492 voyage. Today, many Indians view his arrival in the Americas as a tragedy. Schoolchildren at the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Indian Reservation, for example, do not observe the holiday.
School districts in other parts of the country, such as Berkeley, Calif., have removed Columbus Day from their calendars or renamed the holiday to acknowledge that indigenous peoples inhabited the New World long before Columbus' arrival. South Dakota also has renamed the holiday.
In addition to Toothaker, those voting in favor of the change were Stephen Spring, Ben Meiklejohn and Tae Chong. Voting against it were Jonathan Radtke, Otis Thompson, Ellen Alcorn and James DiMillo.
Toothaker said some Portland residents complained that his proposal was a frivolous distraction from more important matters facing the School Committee. He said he was buoyed by the 20 percent who supported a holiday name change on a school-calendar questionnaire that went out to all teachers.
"I was really surprised we had gotten one-fifth to completely support this," said Toothaker.
Some committee members said they voted against the measure because they believe that deciding which national holidays to celebrate is outside of the committee's purview.
"The struggle that happened for the indigenous people when the European settlers arrived was difficult and certainly a topic that needs to be addressed and considered at school, " said Thompson.
Committee member James DiMillo, who is of Italian descent, said while there should be time set aside in schools to study American Indian history and heritage, renaming the holiday was ill-considered.
"We have other holidays celebrating people who are not perfect, such as Presidents Day. We still celebrate them," he said.
4 comments:
Since the beginning of time our world has changed hands regionally. My husband is Apache Indian and knows that ultimately what became of our nation was the best for all. Imagine what it would have been if a democracy had not been established. The actions of the early settlers against the Indians is often presented in a less than stellar way. It really was disease that was the biggest killer of the Indians, but they rarely bother to mention that.
Great post...you've got a few...I'm workin on reading them.
Stacy, I didn't know your husband was Apache. I live in Cochise County, Arizona, land of the Chiricahua. I am guessing he must trace his roots back to Arizona or New Mexico. What a neat heritage.
You are so correct, the world changes regionally and to hang on to some offense that happened generations earlier is not only dumb but self defeating.
My grandparents came from Ireland and hated the English. That was their baggage, not mine. I am an American. I am not an immigrant, I am a native because I was born here.
New Mexico Bob. Very good. Both of his parents were from NM with a little Apache on one side and a lot on the other. My father-in-law looks like Jeronimo.
Post a Comment