It is no longer acceptable that the United States continues to honor Christopher Columbus with a federal holiday, and we ask Congress to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day in honor of this continent's first protectors and inhabitants.
Why is this important?
Christopher Columbus' acts of extreme violence, mass murder, and barbarism against the native people of the Americas can no longer be ignored or relegated to the status of a mere foot note in history. His exploits, writings, and philosophy inspired generations of conquerors who engaged in the wholesale destruction of many of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Yet we continue to tell our children that he "discovered" the Americas and we enforce this fantasy by honoring Columbus with a federal holiday. It is time for the U.S. Congress to end the disgrace of honoring this barbarian with a federal holiday and change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.
