By Heart of Illinois ABC
BLOOMINGTON – A proposal to replace Christopher Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day will move to the Bloomington City Council for final action.
Council member Jenn Carrillo is sponsoring the initiative that for now won majority support to replace the holiday on the second Monday of October each year.
At Monday night’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, Carrillo said making this a holiday will encourage people to learn about the history of indigenous people and honor their contributions to society.
“This is a step in the right direction and my hope is that the City of Bloomington can move to a more permanent and institutionalized recognition of the history and contributions of Native and First Nations people,” said Carrillo.
“I planned to introduce this initiative for a long time, but I think recent events have made actions like these all the more urgent and needed,” Carrillo added.
Only Council members Donna Boelen and Kimberly Bray believed the issue did not warrant further discusssion.
Boelen said did not like the idea of substituting one culture for another.
“I believe that ‘cancel culture’ removes the opportunity for dialogue and to study world history,” said Boelen.
Bray said she heard from “multiple members of the American Indian community,” and they don’t support these types of initiatives.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic We need to focus on the needs of our citizens at this time,” Bray said.
Council member Scott Black also questioned the timing of the issue, given the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise, he doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other right now.
“In my view, right now in the middle of a global pandemic, I think staff attention should be on that,” said Black.
“If it happens this year, great. If it happens next year, great too,” Black said.
Council members Jeff Crabill and Julie Emig supported Carrillo’s proposal.
Emig noted Columbus Day honors a person who “created a lot of harm,” but also does not diminish the the value of Italian-Americans who looked two centuries ago for an icon, in this case Columbus, to regain recognition in the U.S.
Council member Joni Painter said she felt conflicted about the issue.
“As Councilwoman Emig said, this began in the 1800s after 11 Italians got lynched. They started Columbus Day to honor them,” said Painter.
“I don’t think we can do away with it because it’s a state holiday, it goes state by state. The mail will still not be delivered. The post office won’t be working, no state offices will be open. I don’t necessarily think we should replace one with the other,” Painter said.
It’s not clear when the issue will come up again before the city council.
“I don’t have a problem with Indigenous Peoples’ Day as we did last year. Just do what we did then in perpetuity, that’s fine with me. I’m just not in favor of replacing one with the other,” Painter added.
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