Today is President's Day. Once upon a time this day was actually two holidays, Jefferson's Birthday and Washington's Birthday, but when Congress decided to create a holiday for Martin Luther King they didn't want to create one more holiday, so they consolidated those two birthdates (conveniently both in February) into one holiday, President's Day.
And a stupid holiday it is, because while we may honor founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson, we also have lumped into this holiday the Warren G Hardings and the William Henry Harrisons of our national history. And one day, good grief, Donald Trump will be in the past and this holiday will then be 1/45th of his by default. 😖
Of course, this isn't the dumbest holiday in our country...tied with it likely is Columbus Day, which in recent years has come under fire for a)honoring a man who never came to this country, actually, b)wasn't the first (there were Indians here, not to mention the Vikings and likely others who found there way here) and c)was only one of many who went west at the end of the 15th century. Why we honor Columbus alone I don't really know. But it's a holiday, the dumbest holiday of all.
Every other holiday has a purpose...Veteran's Day honors veterans, Labor Day honors organized labor, etc. Our problem is not in the idea of these holidays, but rather in our execution of it...it makes no sense to me that we close schools and libraries on many of these days rather than use this time to educate as to what our nation is about. Our holidays have lost meaning because we forget to educate. And as we are educated, then we begin to look at some of these holidays in a brand new light: consider how Columbus Day is sometimes re-labeled indigenous people's day, in honor of those who were already here...yet this hasn't really caught on. So what should we do?
For President's Day, let's re-label this day Founder's Day. In doing this we honor not Presidents (nor have to make other honors for Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Bureaucracy), but rather the founding principles of this country. We already have Independence Day to be sure, but that looks back to 1776, while in fact 1789 and the creation of the Constitution might be a better marker for us. On this day we honor the hard work of all those who have come before us, to honor that we stand on the shoulder of giants who gave us not only independence, but the life that follows.
And for Columbus Day? Let's now call it Immigrant's Day. Columbus, if nothing else, helped pave the way for many people to come to America during the following decades. Yes, the indigenous people suffered...but many of us owe our life to those brave men and women who pulled up stakes in their home country and decided to come to a land of new opportunity. My ancestors have likely been here for well over 200 years; others haven't been here nearly this long. But together, by the grace of God, we all make this country what it is. Trumpites are wrong for not being able to see this, that the strength of this country comes because it is continually infused with new blood. We need immigrants in this country, and having a day to honor them might well go against the increasingly nativism that Trump and his cronies cook up in order to make people afraid.
