Columbus Day vs. Indigenous Peoples' Day: We must find some common grounds for celebration
So what did you celebrate? Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Or, more likely, neither. Even if you work at a bank or the post office and got the day off.
When was the last time you read about Columbus? Even in Wikipedia? When was the last time you read anything about Native American history? Yet this Columbus Day vs. Indigenous Peoples’ Day can unleash a torrent of rage among supporters of one or the other of these designations. Why?
It is not because there are major disputes about the historical facts. There are not. The arrival of Europeans during an age of exploration was disastrous for the peoples who were already living in what became colonies of European nations. Their populations were reduced by maybe 90% or even more. Talk about “replacement!” They were conquered and lost self-determination. The conquerors were brutal. There is little argument about the facts. So what are we arguing about?
We are arguing about the meaning of the facts. Does triumphing over other groups of people mean you are superior? Was it “destiny,” an outcome that was meant to be? Was it “good” or even “the will of God?” Are those with power morally superior to those without? Are they genetically superior? And if my ancestors were light-skinned Europeans, and they were the conquerors, does that make me in some way superior because I am related to them?
On the other side, were the indigenous peoples simply different or were they inherently inferior? Does the oppression of the Native Peoples by the invaders confer upon them moral superiority? Can we equate oppression with “goodness?” Do victims automatically get to claim the high moral ground?
Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? This is what we are arguing about.
But it isn’t finally about “them,” the people long dead. It is about us, and how we are using them to make our case for how the world should work now, and how much power and moral high ground we can claim now.
Can we agree on a few things? First of all, can we agree that no group of people likes being controlled, conquered, losing self determination? That includes Native Americans and the colonists who fought for independence. That is simply part of being human.
Can we agree that facts must be backed up by evidence? Even then there will be differences in how we tell the story, but one cannot tell the story by inventing a story we like better than the truth. We have to be open to new evidence if it surfaces.
Can we agree that using power to control other people to make our lives better at their expense and against their will is wrong? Is that a bridge too far? I hope not. It is a value judgment, not a fact, however.
Can we agree that being oppressed does not necessarily mean you are a good person?
Neither does being a “winner.”
We do not need to romanticize Native Americans. They were not living in perfect harmony with each other, the Earth, and the Great Spirit when Europeans arrived. But they were subjected to brutality and injustice. The country was deprived of what they had learned about living in this land because they were seen as an obstacle that needed to be removed, not as a rich resource of knowledge. They were deprived of their very lives as well as much of their culture.
It can be true that Columbus was a smart, courageous, but ruthless man whose voyages changed the course of history (even if he wasn’t the first European to reach these shores). And at the very same time it can be true that European colonization was horrific for the people who were already here.
So Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? You cannot possibly tell the story of either without the other. Defending Columbus and ignoring the story as told by the indigenous population is not defending Western Civilization. It is just the way we humans want to believe we are superior, which every group does: the Chinese, the Persians/Iranians, the Japanese, the Europeans, everybody.
People have a way of seeing that speck in the eye of the other, while denying the plank in their own eye.
The less powerful always know how they are seen by the powerful. But the powerful usually have little idea of how they are seen by the less powerful. They are blind and deaf to their own weaknesses. William Fulbright called it “the arrogance of power” and warned of its deadly consequences.
Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day: yes to all of it. If we do not learn from all of it, we are sowing the seeds of our own destruction.
Pat Hunt is a columnist for The News Leader.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Columnist suggests finding common ground for celebrating holiday
