Council was foolish

The Spokane City Council “changing” the name of Columbus Day is ridiculous for many reasons.

First, Columbus Day is a national holiday, not a city holiday. Columbus Day was founded not to honor the personal attributes of Columbus, per se, but the date honors his discovery of the New World. If the City Council really wants to honor indigenous people, why not honor them on their own special day, say a week after Columbus Day?

Second, are we to start rewriting history by discrediting/removing important events and people from the original contexts of their times? Thomas Jefferson (and many other founding fathers) had slaves. Should we therefore erase them from our memories?

Moreover, how about renaming the Columbia River? Yes, it’s naming was associated with the “evil” Christopher Columbus. How about Columbus, Ohio? It was named directly to honor Christopher Columbus.

The council needs to rethink this foolishness.

Larry Vandervert

Spokane