Locals push to replace Columbus Day in El Paso

Three local women have started a petition urging the City of El Paso to stop to declare October 13 Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day.

Cemelli De Aztlan, who teaches Indigenous Spiritualism at the University of Texas at El Paso started the petition along with her friends, Rubi Orozco, a health educator and Sandra Iturbe, a midwife.

The women on Monday said the actions of Columbus should be condemned not celebrated. “The school system did a real disservice by teaching me that these people who enacted genocide and slavery are heroes in our history books,” said De Aztlan.

If the women are successful, El Paso would not be the first city to do away with Columbus Day. The city of Berkeley, Seattle, and Minneapolis have all done away with the controversial holiday. In Seattle, where the City Council replaced the holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day, the Italian American community took out a one page ad in the local paper denouncing the city for getting rid of Columbus day.

Some Italian Americans see Columbus as a symbol of the contribution of Italians to modern history.

“We are on the land of indigenous peoples and we cannot continue to stand for discrimination,” De Aztlan said.

Orozco, a new mother, agrees. “To me it’s like the equivalent of somebody raped and killed my grandmother and we’re going to celebrate that every year. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Iturbe said it’s especially important to teach children the actions of Columbus. She said children like theirs get conflicting messages about Columbus at school and at home. “Real change happens in our homes. And have a real conversation with our children and re-educate them and celebrate our traditions.”

The women said they’ll present the resolution to El Paso City Council when it accumulates more signatures. “For us to evolve as a country, we need to embrace reconciliation. And with reconciliation, it may be painful to recognize our history on what we’ve pressed upon indigenous peoples but if we take that step toward the truth, we’ll be a better peoples for it,” said De Aztlan.

Editor’s Note: KVIA wants to know how you feel about Columbus Day. Do you celebrate Columbus Day? Take our poll at bit.ly / 1qk5tMB and let us know.