Why Is Columbus Day Be Celebrated

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Holidays are an exciting part of an American’s life, whether that means you are still a child in school doing crafts lead by a teacher, you have a job and get to have the day off, or if you just get to see friends and family that you might not have seen in a while. Holidays have become a more prominent part of everyone living in the United States and to some this might cause more pressure for the celebration to go perfectly as planned but for most, it is a relaxing and enjoyable time. However, all the national and federal holidays celebrated in the United States have caused at least some amount of controversy at some point. These controversies typically occur when the holiday was first introduced or declared and have been caused by a variety …show more content…
Americans have several different valid reasons as to why this day should be removed from celebration and as a recognized holiday, the biggest reason being the history of why it is celebrated. Part of the controversy with this day is the claim that Christopher Columbus was not someone who can be seen as a role model alone and therefore does not deserve a day all to himself every year. The most evitable reason why people disagree with this holiday is because the history that is taught in school about this day, about how Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover what is today the United States, is untrue. There is historical proof that Viking had “discovered” the land long before Columbus arrived and even before that there were Native American Indians living on the land. Native Americans along with other groups of Americans have petitioned to have Columbus Day removed from the federal holiday system, for these reasons along with a few other minor reasons. Columbus Day has been replaced with Native America Day in South Dakota in order to identify the people who were truly here in the United States first (Short, Deborah J). South Dakota is the only state to officially make this change, and while some people ignore the fact that it is a holiday all together, Columbus Day continues as a holiday. This could because of the heritage that comes with the day and that helps made up …show more content…
Other than historical facts that can cause the issue, how commercialized a holiday might have become in the more recent years can also be a reason for disagreements. Some of the more conservative people do not believe that people in the more recent years are giving some of the more religious holidays the respect they deserve by not celebrating them in the “proper way”. Proper way meaning how some of the people that are celebrating holidays such as Easter and Christmas, are not Christians and are only celebrating the holiday for the candy and presents that come along with the holiday. This can cause some of the more extreme conservatives to want these holidays removed from the recognized federal system, and only to be celebrated by the people who are doing it for the original reasons of celebration. In recent years, there have been signs popping up that say things such as “keep the Christ in CHRISTmas” and “Silly rabbit Easter is for Jesus”. These signs are made to remind people the real reason why we celebrate these religious holidays. Then on the other side of the argument we have the liberal perspective which creates the “war on Christmas”. These people believe that America is not a country with the only religion being Christianity and therefore Christmas should be optionally celebrated and instead of saying “merry Christmas” the liberal