Biden is first president to mark Indigenous Peoples' Day
Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden on Friday issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day, lending the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of native peoples.
The day will be observed on Oct. 11, along with Columbus Day, which is established by Congress.
For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures, Biden wrote in the Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.
In a separate proclamation on Columbus Day, Biden praised the role of Italian Americans in U.S. society, but also referenced the violence and harm Columbus and other explorers of the age brought about on the Americas.
President Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccinations after touring a Clayco Corporation construction site for a Microsoft data center in Elk Grove Village, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-lifestyle-holidays-columbus-day-a1ad30d52ad7ff80aa8e7621e2f9a425
Bayard
(22,048 posts)IrishAfricanAmerican
(3,815 posts)Stuart G
(38,414 posts)wnylib
(21,422 posts)Aristus
(66,310 posts)TFG, it would be his administration is inclusionary, not exclusionary.
I'm so proud he's our President. And I'm a middle-aged, straight, cisgender, white guy.
BumRushDaShow
(128,767 posts)And I have zero problem with and would encourage celebrating Italian-American culture and heritage. But to hell with Columbus.
Mysterian
(4,575 posts)I have great respect for the native peoples who lived in North America for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.
MustLoveBeagles
(11,587 posts)CTyankee
(63,901 posts)to my mind is totally correct and OK.
We have a lot of folk here in New Haven who are Italian Americans and who hate that new way of looking at the holiday, which is now an observance of indigenous people. But so far so good....