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Does Columbus Day represent American values? Local teachers advocate to remove holiday from school calendar

A person holds a sign that says "Rethink Columbus Day" along side a person holding Indigenous art.
Elaine Thompson / AP
More Americans question Columbus Day as a holiday.

Indigenous People’s Day is a holiday that’s been increasingly recognized by more states and more Americans, but it has yet to become a federal holiday and replace Columbus Day, which has been the subject of criticism in recent years. Two local teachers Michelle Cruz Hine and Emily Anderson have spoken out about removing Columbus Day from the Springfield Public School District 186 calendar. They spoke to Community Voices about the problematic history of Christopher Columbus, the history of the Taino people and the values they want to see celebrated in American culture.

For more information:

https://www.change.org/p/springfield-il-replace-columbus-day-with-indigenous-peoples-day-on-the-city-calendar

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/11/1045084634/indigenous-peoples-day-is-a-federal-holiday-now-activists-want-to-drop-columbus-

https://tainomuseum.org

Vanessa is the Community Voices Production Coordinator. Reach Vanessa at vfergu3@uis.edu.
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