🇺🇸 A Controversy on Parade

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📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 44, Disapprove 55 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans 47, Democrats 43 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Iowa: Trump vs. Biden: Trump 47, Biden 39 (Emerson)

🐎 Rhode Island: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 49, Trump 32 (WPRI/Roger Williams)

TRENDING

Left: Why Hunter Biden’s legal troubles are back in the news (Vox)

Left: Kanye West Was Tucker Carlson’s Ultimate Grievance Interview (Slate)

Left: GOP Candidate Blake Masters Torched By Ex-Classmates: He's A 'Dangerous Politician' (Huffington Post)

Right: NYC Mayor Eric Adams joins DC in declaring a state of emergency over bused migrants from Texas (Blaze)

Right: Biden’s Mass Pardon For Marijuana Possession Likely Benefitting Offenders Guilty Of Worse Crimes (Daily Wire)

Right: GOP on verge of House-Senate majority lock (Washington Examiner)

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HISTORY

A Controversy on Parade

Columbus Day continues to be highly controversial. Also known as Indigenous Peoples Day, those opposed to a day celebrating the exploits of Christopher Columbus say he was a cruel, murderous, racist enslaver. At the same time, it’s considered an important day by many Italian Americans, who celebrate their heritage on this day.

Reporting from the Left: Toms River Regional urged to bring back Columbus Day holiday for students (Asbury Park Press)

Reporting from the Right: Goodbye, Columbus? NY Democrats revisit ‘woke’ push to erase holiday (New York Post)

From The Flag: It’s always a challenge when studying history through a modern prism: last year we took a look at the Columbus Day debate by using a “pro and against” format. Today we’re returning to our now familiar left-right structure, sampling from how both sides feel about this controversial holiday.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Cancel Culture Comes for Columbus

• The left’s vilification and overall treatment of Columbus is reflective of communist propaganda.

• It’s absurd to believe Columbus Day celebrates genocide and colonialism, when it’s meant to celebrate Italian heritage.

• We celebrate Columbus Day not because he discovered America, but because his discovery made America possible.

“Celebrate Columbus’s Achievements” Garry Kasparov, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “This caricature of Columbus as little more than a rapacious villain is as simplistic and wrongheaded as the version of him as a savior-hero who proved the world was round. As usual, reality is complex and doesn’t provide easy, comfortable answers. It could be said that Columbus’s years of navigating the Spanish courts and courtiers was a greater feat than navigating the Atlantic, which hardly went as planned. He was driven but diplomatic, traits he employed in his dealings with indigenous communities of the Americas, where he and his men also committed atrocities in the name of holy conquest. … The line of ambitious explorers runs through Columbus to the likes of Elon Musk. Their accomplishments should not blind us to their flaws, but neither should their flaws blind us to their achievements. Honoring great deeds and risk-takers who defy conventional wisdom can inspire others to follow in their footsteps…”

“Enough with trying to cancel Columbus ” Tom Wrobleski, Staten Island Advance Opinion: “Both lawmakers ignore the fact that Columbus Day isn’t about navigational feats and world exploration. It’s about those of Italian descent taking pride in their heritage. But we can’t have that, according to some Dem lawmakers. Columbus was a colonizer and an exploiter. He has to be erased from the history books. Statues that celebrate him have to be torn down. His holiday belongs in the dustbin of history. Woke lawmakers also ignore the fact that there are still a lot of powerful Italian-Americans in New York State… We’re truly not celebrating colonialism, genocide and oppression when we take part in a Columbus Day Parade. How ridiculous has cancel culture gotten? … But that’s what totalitarian types look to do: They erase history, instead of debating it and learning from it, and replace it with their own state-approved version. It’s not just historical figures who get canceled. It’s free thought, dissent and debate as well.

One more opinion piece from the Right: Why We Celebrate Columbus Day Dan McLaughlin, National Review

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Rethink Columbus Day in Favor of Indigenous People

• Why is Columbus the historical figure Italian-Americans rally around when there are more worthy heroes in Italian history?

• Columbus’ story is a source of pride for many Italian-Americans, but the story often ignores his less desirable qualities.

• Celebrating Columbus day is symbolic of White supremacy, and his monuments need to be removed from public spaces.

“Indigenous Peoples Day should replace a holiday honoring a genocidal white supremacist” Nancy Kelsey, Cleveland Plain Dealer Opinion: “I can appreciate wanting to celebrate one’s culture. Pride in my heritage is an essential part of my identity. But why celebrate Christopher Columbus? Italian heritage is so full of heroic and revolutionary leaders that it is baffling why he has become such an esteemed figure. The man was supposed to be a skilled navigator but got lost, proclaimed the discovery of a continent already populated by millions of Indigenous peoples and then set into motion the mass genocide of its first inhabitants. … I am all for celebrating Italian heritage. What I do not support is the glorification of a genocidal historical figure. To make things right with Indigenous peoples, after decades of rubbing our faces in the celebration of a holiday named for the man responsible for the mass killing of Native Americans, I would be delighted to see Indigenous Peoples Day replace Columbus Day and, on a separate day, recognize Italian Heritage Day.”

“Columbus Day had value for Italian Americans — but it’s time to rethink it” Danielle Battisti, Washington Post: “What Italian Americans did with Columbus Day illustrates the power of constructed symbols and community memories to shape identities. … In presenting Columbus in this way, Italian Americans didn’t challenge the notion that discrimination against immigrants or other groups in the United States was inherently flawed. They merely used evidence of their group’s meritorious contributions to the nation to make the case that it was time to move Italian Americans to the other side of the ledger. Combined with the structural privileges they already enjoyed, the result was that by the decades after World War II, Italian Americans increasingly married who they wanted, worked where they wanted, lived where they wanted, went to school where they wanted and even got legal restrictions against Italian immigration removed. Italian Americans used pluralist tactics to write themselves into a narrative of White citizenship and laid claims to its benefits in the process.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Columbus Day Is A Monument To White Supremacy Deborah Taffa, Huffington Post

FLAG THIS

Columbus Day: Yay or Nay?

When we covered this story last year, we asked for our reader’s thoughts on the matter. Here’s a look at some of those responses:

From KG5: “He 'discovered' what is now the Dominican Republic, set up a system of harm and enslavement, and got himself thrown in jail in Spain for his absolutely vile actions on indigenous people.”

From Kanto: “It will always be Columbus day to me... (He) was no different than any other explorer of his time. We can’t just ignore what he accomplished."

A poll from last year found that younger Americans are considerably less supportive of Columbus than older generations. Specifically, 30% of adults aged 18-29 characterized Columbus as "villainous" while only 12% of adults 65+ viewed him as such. Of the older group, 4 in 10 viewed him as heroic. Only 24% in the youngest group felt the same way (YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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