Shortchanging Americans

Indigenous Peoples' Day shouldn't be on Columbus Day

1. Shortchanging Americans

My computer calendar reminded me that Monday wasn’t just Columbus Day, but “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” as well.

I rolled my eyes at that, then sat down to think about why. I love American history, and have never had even a mildly negative interaction with an indigenous person, even on the internet.

My reaction stemmed from the holiday feeling like an “eff you” to Columbus and our European history. With a little research, I discovered I was right.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day started in 1992 when  – surprise! – Berkeley, California renamed Columbus Day to protest the historical conquest by Europeans, and to turn that attention instead to the harms against Native Americans. That was followed by other cities and governments, as politicians eased their guilt by elevating victimhood over all.

Similarly, but not as obnoxiously, Thanksgiving is counter-programmed the following day with Native American Heritage Day.

Instead of truly appreciating our country’s native past, we’ve turned an integral chapter of American history into a not-so-subtle protest. A footnote of history.

How did we get here? Much of it is driven by those who wish Europeans never came to America. In academia-land, Columbus is a villain, and Elizabeth Warren isn’t the only college professor saddened by him. It’s part of a full-fledged effort to undermine our history and values. 

Most of the rest of us just want to be nice to Indians; that genocide was real. If you really want to talk “systemic racism,” when’s the last time you’ve seen a Native American family walking down the street? The clash of civilizations was brutal.

Even now, with the victim-driven culture wars, can anyone really argue that removing the remnants of Native Americans from our culture was helpful to anyone at all? Even with something as inconsequential as butter packaging, did we honor them by making them disappear?

We can, and should, celebrate both the migration of European culture to America and the heritage of the Native people who were here long before. 

They are all interwoven threads in the fabric of American history. We shouldn’t be rewriting that history, but embracing the full tapestry. 

It's not an 'us versus them' scenario … they’re all us.

2. How Israel was attacked

Israel has said that they’ll look into the security failures that led to last weekend’s attack … after they win the war against Hamas. Meanwhile, the Free Press has a helpful look at events leading up to the attack. The Times of Israel is also a good source for news coming out of Israel.

3. From my channel

Any way you measure it, men dominate competitive chess. I dig in and answer the “why?” which is more complex than you might guess.