Student Assembly Calls for Renaming Columbus Day as ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’

During last week’s Student Assembly (SA) meeting, student representatives voted unanimously to change the designation of Christopher Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day on Cornell calendars.

The decision came after a discussion over the ethical implications of the day’s name and celebration despite the many terrible deeds Christopher Columbus, and the subsequent explorers, did unto the Native American peoples.

The so-called “discovery” of the New World brought immense suffering to those who had been living on the continents for several millennia already: from plagues, to slavery, to cultural upheaval. This tragic and important part of American history is sometimes glossed over in classrooms across the country.

But the recent SA decision begs the question, how much renaming will be enough?

The renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day is political correctness being used to create some feel-good, ultimately insignificant, change. If renaming un-PC parts of our culture does create the real change this resolution seeks to accomplish, should we also rename all the other instances of a place or group being named after an individual whose actions weren’t completely progressive by modern-day standards? If so, then no historical figure deserves his or her name on any holiday or monument.

There is a countless number of towns, universities, government buildings, etc., that are named after individuals who committed actions which are now known to be racist, bigoted, or antithetical to modern-day social norms or etiquette.

One example would be George Washington, the first president of the United States and hero of the Revolutionary War. He was a slave owner, as were many other founding fathers. What should we do in regard to the various universities, cities, and state named after him?

What about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States and President during the Great Depression and much of World War II? Although his administration helped lead the United States through some of its most troubling times, he also placed 117,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps. Should we remove him from our dimes?

While having discussions about representation of our history and culture is good, changing the names is not the ultimate solution.

When considering the copious examples of items that should have their names changed, it should be understood that renaming only serves as a band-aid for treating the social problems we have been facing and are still facing.

While this band-aid may be thought of as helping the issue, it also can provide an easy escape to be able to say that this social inequality has been automatically solved with the name change.

Several hundred years of suffering and discrimination cannot be solved by a simple name change, so we must be cautious not fall into the mindset that the marginalization of indigenous peoples has been solved.

Immense challenges still face Native Americans all over the United States and North America. For example, the Economic Policy Institute estimated the unemployment rate in 2013 for Native American populations was 11.3%, and the Census Bureau estimated that Native Americans’ median household income is $16,000 less than the national average, at $37,227 versus $53,657. Additionally, the Office of National Drug Control Policy estimated in 2009 that 18.3% Native Americans used illicit drugs in the past month, as compared to a range of 3.7%-9.6% for the other ethnicities surveyed.

Rather than directing our efforts to applying another metaphorical coat of paint to the lamentable parts of our history, we as a nation should redirect our efforts and dialogue towards tangible efforts to help marginalized demographics, rather than the abstract back-pat that comes along with changing the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.