A Great American Holiday

By Dennis Brent Melby

Columbus Day was founded because immigrants were being lynched. Years ago, after many waves of immigration by folks from different lands there was a particularly bad instance of Italians being lynched by mobs that hated them. Hatred of folks who are not like you happens in every community – it’s a dark part of every society. The American administration decided to have a holiday to commemorate an Italian hero, hence Columbus Day.

Is there another day for indigenous people’s day? Indeed, there is. It’s called Thanksgiving, and it celebrates recent immigrants from Europe coming here and being befriended and saved by a group of American Indians, or indigenous people if you will. The Indians were amazed at the power that the new residents brought (the ships and the weapons) and dismayed that they were not able to even feed themselves, keep themselves warm and make it in this land, and they helped them out so that they survived the winter and saw them safely into the next year.

Both groups celebrated with a Thanksgiving feast and since then it’s been an American, European and Indian holiday commemorating and celebrating the first immigrants and the European immigrants. 

We are all part of this great experiment of America. Descendants of the first residents have always been an important part of our society; there was even a vice President of the United States who was Native American and one heartbeat away from the presidency.

So let’s celebrate Columbus Day and remember the old world and the New World coming together. I know I will, I celebrate all Americans and try not to separate them into categories or groups. That’s what America is all about, coming together.

Happy Columbus Day

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Dennis Melby is a Member of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, and former 2020 and 2024 Chairman. He can be reached at [email protected]