Is it wrong to fight for Columbus Day and still be progressive?

A friend of mine posted this:

“Seriously what is the draw in arguing that it’s Columbus Day and not Indigenous People’s Day? I get why people like the change, and I get why many others don’t care as long as they still get the day off. But like when the local school district posts something about Indigenous People’s Day, what could possibly compel you to get mad about that and post an angry reply that it’s still Columbus Day to you?”

To this, I responded:
If you empathize with people who passionately want to call it Indigenous People’s Day, why can’t you empathize with the passion itself that Columbus is a defensible person.

Why is a fixation on history on one side silliness, and a fixation of history on the other silly?

I don’t mind if some people also want to co-name the name Indigenous People’s Day. However surrendering the name Columbus Day because Columbus is symbolic of the evils of colonization is simply not factual.

For one, the idea that “colonization” is a trigger word among today’s young generation also needs to be dismissed. It’s simply a natural stage in the course of an empire’s development to claim land outside of itself.

The idea of teaching our society to demonize Columbus and not see him in the context of his time or actual historical clues, is teaching them to surrender critical thinking skills.