Columbus Day Reflection

Submitted by Greta Leach on October 8, 2007 - 6:42pm.

Today might be America’s most controversial holiday, Columbus Day. The holiday was created 100 years ago in Colorado and later became a National holiday. We now know that Columbus was an African slave trader according to his own writings and began the centuries of killing millions of Native people…genocide in the name of Christ. Yet there is still a holiday to celebrate his legacy.

The annual Columbus Day parade in Denver has a history. Native American groups, community groups, and faith groups band together to protest what they call a “convoy of conquest.” The parade organizers celebrate under a guise of Italian-American pride but in reality is far from representative of the great Italian Americans in Denver…or anywhere. The organizers are a small group and some have ties to white-supremacy groups. Very few Italian Americans watch the parade.

This year was the 100 year anniversary of the holiday. Iliff Beatitudes gathered prior to the observance to discuss the situation with Iliff Ph.D student and Native American, Mark Freeland. We engaged in open dialogue about the history of Columbus, what the observance of the holiday means to Native peoples, and reflected theologically as Christians. We asked, what does repentance look like? Churches have sincerely apologized for their historical role in the oppression of Native people but can this be considered repentance if Native people continue to be oppressed today? For example, on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, unemployment is around 90% and life expectancy hovers around 50 years. Some might call this a much slower, more subtle form of genocide by means of poverty and addiction.

If the parade were simply about Columbus it would be too easy, but Columbus is a much more complex symbol of hegemony. For those who oppose the observance, the parade is about advancing a National ideology of imperialism, exploitation, and conquest. It’s not about something that happened 500 years ago; it’s about something that continues to happen today.

We Christians ought to care about this because our religion has also been also been used as a hegemonic tool to advance this same ideology for the past 500 years. Perhaps this explains why Christianity is perceived by many today as being associated with militarism, imperialism, and greed in America. This perception could not be farther from what Christ actually calls us to – love, compassion, justice, and peace.

Our calling as a faith community is one of healing – within our community and to those who have been hurt by our community. Iliff Be’ats prayerfully decided to act in the following ways:
1. To hold in prayer all those involved in the parade protests during the events and in the weeks leading up to Columbus Day.
2. To theologically reflect and issue a statement of support:

The Beatitudes Society chapter at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO, firmly believes that as people of faith in the Christian tradition, we are called to seek justice for all people, to honor the right of all people to have life in abundance, a life which does not include genocide, colonization, or oppression in any shape or form. This Saturday, 10/06/07, a date that marks the 100th anniversary of the Columbus Day observance in Colorado, along with other members of the Iliff community, the Beatitudes Chapter will support the Transforming Columbus Day action by being part of the larger community with Native American groups, community groups, and faith groups. This includes marching in our city to protest the observance of Columbus as a hero, whose legacy in fact has been the perpetration of genocide, oppression, environmental destruction, and colonization in our world. We seek with our presence at this event, to tell our city and our nation that there is another way to be in the world: a way of peace, mutuality, justice-filled relationships with one another, a way in which all people can live in freedom from hatred. More information on the TCD action can be found at: https://www.transformcolumbusday.org.
3. To be prayerful, physical witnesses to those risking safety and arrest. Some members to march in solidarity with Native people the morning of the parade.

Approximately 40 members of the Iliff community were involved on Saturday including, students, faculty, alumni, trustees, and the dean. Ten students gathered in the street to sing and pray together. Their actions led police officers in riot gear to arrest them and in many cases, keep them in jail overnight.

I admit, the moderate in me cringed a little in fear of being associated with something that is perceived by many as extreme and radical. But to remain neutral is after all, to comply with the status quo, right? And compliance with the status quo – 100 years of celebrating oppression is a pretty extreme position.

So today, on Columbus Day, let us remember what we are working towards. Our struggle is internal; we are working towards achieving ourselves as the community of faith that God calls us to be. One that if we actually achieve it, will turn the world completely upside down.

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