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Happy Columbus Day
I don’t suppose this should be surprising to any of you, but I love Columbus Day. I love it not only because I get the day off from school—though I’m sure that would be enough for most people—but also because I’m from Ohio, so naturally I think it’s great to have a holiday celebrating the capital of my native state.
Let's be honest: there's a lot to celebrate about the place. Columbus, from its very beginning, was about compromise, an important virtue--it was founded in order to be the capital when Zanesville and Chillicothe were busy fighting over which town would get to be in charge. It is a city representing the importance of education, from having America's first Kindergarten established there to being home of The Ohio State University, the largest college campus in the United States. It's earliest growth rested on the idea of America as a melting pot, as an influx of Irish and German immigrants followed the completion of the National Road from Baltimore in 1831 and shaped the city's early life. Columbus was also an important city in the labor movement, serving as the cradle for both the American Federation of Labor and the United Mine Workers of America. Ohio in general is also, of course, the home of good, friendly people, and I'm sure Columbus Day is meant to celebrate those community virtues of neighborliness and friendliness exhibited by Ohioans. Ohio people tend to say hello to you even when they don't know you, rather suggesting that they'd like to get to know you if you both happen to have the time. If not, well, maybe some other time.
So, in honor of Columbus Day, I would ask you all to be mindful of the virtues of Columbus, Ohio and work to implement them in your daily lives. Be nice to people, compromise a little to get things done, reflect on the importance of education by reading a book or voting for a school levy, be welcoming to immigrants, and see what you can do today about making things better for working men and women. Get into the spirit of Columbus!
Okay, sure, fine. I know this holiday isn't really directed at the buckeye state, but maybe it should be... compare that to celebrating a guy who wrote about the Arawaks, who came out generously to meet his ships with food, fresh water, and gifts that "They would make fine servants. . . . With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." Or, as he reported, the natives
"are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, the offer to share with anyone...." He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage "as much gold as they need... and as many slaves as they ask." (all quotations from Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1995.)
I suppose there's a certain virtue in Columbus's dogged determination and willingness to continue sailing or whatever, but we could more readily celebrate those virtues on, say Vince Lombardi day (except that if we celebrate it on his birthday, June 11, most of us won't get out of school). Anyway, I'm sure we can find someone.