Tue 19 Dec 2017
Indigenous Peoples Day
Posted by David Dudley Field '25 under Administration at 6:28 am
From the Berkshire Eagle:
Williams College celebrates its last Columbus Day
In ending the Columbus Day off at Williams College, it came down to accounting.
The faculty voted to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday for faculty, staff and students about six months ago.
The human resources department determined the college would trade off another holiday — Columbus Day — rather than adding another holiday to the calendar.
“This was just a simple trade-off,” said Jim Reische, chief communications officer at Williams College. “We didn’t do anything with Columbus Day. It was just a three-day weekend.”
Administrative staff still had the day off on Monday, but that will change come next year. Classes still met.
Administrative staff will still be allowed to take the Columbus Day off next year if they choose, but they’ll have to use a floating holiday day. There will be classes on that day.
“The major driver was — we needed to consider MLK Day a holiday,” Reische said. “There was a strong push to make that a day off, to recognize it.”
More important to the college in terms of programming is Claiming Williams Day, which began in 2009 after a series of racist and sexist incidents on campus in 2008, Reische said.
Claiming Williams Day includes a full roster of programming exploring what it means to be a diverse and inclusive campus, he said.
“It’s much more about academic and community-building than anything we ever did with Columbus Day,” he said.
The town of Williamstown took a different direction on Columbus Day earlier this year.
In May, town meeting voters agreed to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.
Williamstown Elementary School labeled Monday’s holiday Indigenous Peoples Day on its website as of Monday morning.
If I were Trump, I would make a huge deal of Columbus Day next fall: big celebration at the White House, perhaps a speech about how Democrats consider Italian-Americans to be deplorables, an (outrageous) proposal that any town/city/state which wants federal funds must celebrate Columbus Day. There would be few better ways of motivating the voters he, and the Republicans, will need in November.
Political Science 101 at Williams taught me that, he who picks the issue to fight over, wins. In any fight between “Columbus Day” and “Indigenous Peoples Day,” Trump wins easily.
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18 Responses to “Indigenous Peoples Day”
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PTC says:
This from a place that does not have any official remembrances or mention of Veterans Day.
December 19th, 2017 at 7:42 amfrank uible says:
Veteran’s Day used to be called Armistice Day (some very old timers may continue to do so). A return to the use of “Armistice” in place of “Veterans” might mollify some of the pacifists among us and yet in places like Williams give veterans more of the credit which they deserve, but in the current political climate a return to anything tends to be regarded as retrograde.
December 19th, 2017 at 8:15 amabl says:
This would be a big shame. We need to be moving away from crap like this as a country. You may be correct, factually speaking, that such a low trick as this could “work” politically — but it would further move the political right in the direction of cynical self-preservation and away from any sort of cohesive ideology.
December 19th, 2017 at 11:28 amPTC says:
abl- That depends, on whether if by “cohesive ideology” you mean a complete capitulation to “liberal left ideology.” Conservative politics have always been important in the United States.
The coopting of the liberal “victimhood” theme has worked for Trump thus far. It’s been an odd tit for tat to watch- to see who can cry more- Trump or the liberal politicians who are stupid enough to respond to his tweets.
Trump has definitely coopted, and used the liberal “everyone is a victim except white men, with their white male privilege” theme. This will continue.
Seems we are all victims now… what a cluster!
December 19th, 2017 at 12:34 pmabl says:
How is “a speech about how Democrats consider Italian-Americans to be deplorables” anything other than a blatant deliberate mischaracterization of the issue?
December 19th, 2017 at 12:44 pmDavid Dudley Field '25 says:
Hilary Clinton initiated the use of “deplorables” as a noun to describe a large percentage of the US population.
Some (many? most?) Democrats would describe anyone who subscribes to Trump’s views on immigration — build a wall, Muslim ban, et cetera — as “deplorable.”
A majority of Italian-Americans agree with Trump’s views on immigration.
Therefore . . .
Of course, all politicians are, on occasion, guilty of rhetoric or, if you prefer “mischaracterization[s]”. My suggestion for Trump is certainly now worse than, say, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” If you don’t object to that, then . . .
December 19th, 2017 at 12:51 pmfrank uible says:
Politics is a nasty game played by nasty people – even with respect to somethimg so seemingly benign as holidays.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:10 pmabl says:
DDF –
That’s really, really, really strained. It also makes no sense in this context: as you know, being anti-Columbus Day has a grand total of nothing to do with anyone’s views about Italian-Americans (or Trump supporters). Characterizing the fight to rename Columbus Day as being about, in any sense, anyone’s views about Italian-Americans in general or about Trump supporters specifically — two separate and not disproportionately overlapping groups — falls somewhere between badly misleading and a dangerous lie.
And yes, it is far worse than “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” Lying about the impacts of a prospective policy program, albeit far from laudable, is regularly done by those on both sides of the political aisle. (And there have been many statements made about the current tax plan that are no less misleading.) This is certainly problematic and it is a practice that we should all seek to stamp out — so, at best, it is no support for your proposal. What you propose, however, is not simply a lie about substantive policy: it’s a lie designed to further stoke the race and class wars currently dividing the country.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:43 pmwmsalum says:
A note to possible future Williams students reading through this discussion: Note the blindness to those of Italian-American heritage in this discussion. Don’t expect anything different when you get here. It’s not that you won’t get a welcome like everyone else, it’s just that you’re not part of the currently favored groups.
Of course if you belong to some of the other favored groups on campus due to other aspects of your identity, you may feel more welcome. Or if your parents are quite wealthy, you may get special treatment.
Community building indeed.
December 21st, 2017 at 8:09 amWilliams Alum says:
A note to possible future Williams students reading through this discussion: EphBlog is nothing like campus, so you can largely ignore these discussions. Also white people (including Italian-Americans) are certainly one of the favored groups.
December 21st, 2017 at 8:28 amabl says:
I am going to trust that prospective students reading through this discussion will be smart enough to note that there is, in fact, no “blindness to those of Italian-American heritage in this discussion.”
Also, I’m going to second the comments of Williams Alum: mostly for better, the culture and tone of Ephblog is entirely different–and in many ways diametrically opposed–to the tone and culture of campus. Williams is a far more thoughtful and considerate environment than Ephblog.
December 21st, 2017 at 11:00 amJCD says:
I think we should warn Italian-American students who wish to honor their community’s traditional celebration of the achievements of Christopher Columbus that they will be treated no differently than Christina Sommers.
‘You’re a racist,’ Williams College students tell author Christina Sommers
The idea that Williams College is a stress-free environment that celebrates diverse points of view is largely a myth trotted out to appease distraught alumni and parents concerned for their children’s safety. It is actually an isolated, claustrophobic place where leftists find it easy to threaten others and enforce their hateful you’re either for us or against us perspective.
Williams College President’s Defense Of Campus Progressives Overlooked Behavior At His Own School
Prospective students interested in being part of a gentle compassionate community that values freedom of speech are advised, by me at least, to look elsewhere for their undergraduate education.
December 21st, 2017 at 3:16 pmabl says:
There are many, many, many Italian-Americans worth celebrating. Christopher Columbus is not Italian-American nor is he particularly high on the list of people who did honor to their Italian heritage.
December 21st, 2017 at 3:46 pmJCD says:
So true. From personal experience, I can report that Armenian-American Christians aren’t among the currently favored groups either. For a quick look at the meaning of Columbus Day in Italian-American culture, check out this wonderful story by NPR:
Christopher Columbus A Hero To Many Italian-Americans
December 21st, 2017 at 5:12 pmWilliams Alum says:
This seems, to me, a particularly dumb argument, even by EphBlog standards. A New Years Resplution is to not get caught up in this silly blog. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
December 21st, 2017 at 5:42 pmFendertweed says:
Free Vito Corleone!
December 21st, 2017 at 5:58 pmdeplorabus says:
Colombus was a bad hombre! When Europe sent their people, they weren’t sending their best. They were sending people that had lots of problems, and they brought those problems with them. They brought germs. They brought slavery, and capitalism. They were rapists. And some, I assume, were good people.
Make Ephblog Great Again! 2018!
December 21st, 2017 at 6:10 pmfrank uible says:
When heretofore has EphBlog been great? My SWAG is that EphBlog on a good day is mediocre.
December 22nd, 2017 at 8:23 pm