(Oberlin) – Starting in October of this year, the second Monday in October will be observed in Oberlin, not as Columbus Day, but as Indigenous People’s Day.
Oberlin City Council voted unanimously Monday night to make the change, taking the third of three votes necessary for the resolution to take effect.
A group of Oberlin residents has been working to do away with Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus should take a back seat to the people who were here when Columbus arrived.
The resolution includes a statement that Oberlin sits on land once occupied by the Erie Tribe.
There was opposition to the move, mainly by Italian-Americans. One man said Columbus Day is a day of Italian-American pride, while another said eliminating references to Christopher Columbus is “a subtle form of bigotry.”
(Photo courtesy Hulton Archive via Getty Images)