¿Sabes cómo celebran el 12 de Octubre en otros países?

Hoy hablamos con Jake, uno de nuestros profesores nativos de .............., que nos cuenta qué es y cómo vive él el "Columbus day".

When is Columbus Day celebrated?

Columbus day is recognized on October 8th in the United States this year. It’s always the second Monday in October.

What is it celebrated? Why is it called Columbus day?

The day is intended to recognize the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.

Does every state celebrate Columbus day on the same day?

Every state that recognizes “Columbus Day” will recognize it on the same day each year. However, many states no longer recognize the day or have changed the name to “Indigenous People’s Day” in order to recognize the native peoples in each state.

Some cities are celebrating indigenous people’s day instead of Columbus day. Why?

Columbus Day has become increasingly unpopular to celebrate in the United States because of the inherently problematic nature of celebrating or honoring the arrival of a person who historically symbolizes the genocide and massacre of millions of native peoples throughout the Americas. Additionally, many people have misrecognized the day as the “Discovery of the Americas” when in reality people had already been living there for hundreds of thousands of years.

Indigenous People’s day is intended to recognize the fact that indigenous people have been living in the Americas for much longer than the European colonists who wiped out indigenous populations over the past 6 centuries. It is celebrated in a reaction counter to the false narrative of “Columbus’ Discovery” and his “heroic actions” in the 15th century.

Does everybody have Columbus day off?

Most people do not have the day off anymore. Certain federal employees and school districts will tend to have the day off, but is not really a holiday for most people in the United States any more.

How is Columbus day celebrated?

There isn’t much of a “celebration” any more. Some people tend to use the day as a day of historical reflection nowadays and schools tend to use the day as a topic of conversation in class. Some people use Columbus day to take an extended weekend vacation if they have off from work or school, but a lot of people treat the day as any normal day.

Finally, how do you celebrate Columbus day?

As an educator, I usually read a lot that day about the different actions we can take to better analyze our history and educate our children on both the beautiful diversity of our world and sad actions many of our ancestors have taken against people who look our sound different from them so that we do not repeat those same mistakes today. Furthemore, I seek to bring awareness to others about the systems of white supremacy, racism, sexism, and xenophobia that have been perpetuated over those hundreds of years that Columbus day has existed. That way, we can better our societies to more adequately serve and represent those who are still persecuted under these systems today.