No Mail Today

October 7, 1971 NM Daily Northwestern

 

The new Columbus Day holiday, having just been approved in 1971, negated mail delivery to the Fox Cities for that day and everywhere else for that matter.  Beyond the Federal level, however, it is not the most popular holiday and there is little consensus on Columbus Day and who gets off and who works.

As of 2013, 23 states (plus the District of Columbia) give their workers the day off as a paid holiday—meaning that state employees in the majority of the land go to work as usual. There’s no real standard for whether schools should be open or closed on Columbus Day either. In parts of the country where schools are closed, many parents face the frustration of scrambling to arrange childcare because they’re expected to work.

All of this is a pretty good indication that we as a nation are not sure how we’re supposed to feel about the day—or, for that matter, about Christopher Columbus and his historic “discovery” in general. Critics say that because Native Americans were here long before Columbus sailed to the Americas, he didn’t really “discover” anything in 1492.  What’s more, Columbus’ arrival in the Americas is widely blamed for launching a centuries-long era of exploitation and genocide. 

Columbus Day celebrations are controversial because the settlement of Europeans in the Americas led to the deaths of a very large proportion of the native people. It has been argued that this was a direct result of Columbus' actions. It is clear that the arrival of the European settlers led to the demise of a large proportion of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It has also been argued that Columbus should not be honored for discovering North America, as he only went as far as some islands in the Caribbean and never got as far as mainland America.

But despite your own feelings about the holiday, some of us will have an extra day off and others won't. And still, no mail today.