Originally posted:
OCTOBER 9, 2017

Thoughts on the end of his name day, Columbus.

There would come a time in many an old American story when an immigrant family felt it had been here long enough that it could begin calling itself native. We were starting to be born here, you see, and we were growing up 100% on American soil. Somehow, that distinction now gave them the "right" to tell the newest arrivals that it was they who didn't belong. This family had been the subject of derision long enough, and now it was their turn to deny access.

Italians started coming over in droves, and were being spit in the face by these (non-Native American) "native" Americans, so, in order to prove they were automatically part of the American experience, the Italian society the Knights of Columbus concocted and lobbied for a holiday to their pedestal Italian, the "discoverer" of America himself, Christopher Columbus. False! Cuba and surrounding areas to the south, sure, but never the continental lands of the contiguous 48 states.

Can we recognize that this tale was steeped in a propagandized political agenda from day one to afford a nationality the chance to reach for the brass ring and adopt the cherished label of "native", and then can we decide in 2017 that a murderer, thief, torturer, and enslaver no longer deserves to be honored for decimating an actual indigenous population?

Since this day is truly about the nativist "we belong" notion at its core, an historical fact, then today--in a day and age when white nationalists are trying to prove a false narrative that this is the white man's America, and only his--let us turn our attention to the real natives then, and honor indigenous peoples; lest we ever forget our place, that we are ALL guests and that the land and its resources were stolen from its original inhabitants. Can we at least agree on that?

My President D. J. Trump loves Andrew Jackson so, but it was he who signed the order which led to the Trail of Tears and the removal of countless Native Americans to make room for "us" the <ahem> "nouveau" natives. So, if we can at least recognize past mistakes, maybe we can learn from them. Maybe this upheaval in what the day represents will help shape us as a nation. We are all Americans, all who dream, not just the ones whose capital funded the building of the railroads and other items on the manifest destiny. A day of honorable mention will help us remember.

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day, America!! (from where I'm standing at least, in progressive Los Angeles.)

And to Hector Chiariglione, my great-great grandfather... eh, sure, you were looking out for your people, and yeah thanks and all, but we've got to take stock in ourselves on a grander scale now, if we are to survive as a belief, that all are created equal with inalienable rights. We've grown as a nation. What we cherish has hopefully evolved. Let's show that our calendar reflects our values and dump Columbus. He was not a "skilled navigator", having thought the earth was thousands of miles smaller than it actually is, and he is not an American model to be revered.