BOE Rejects Discussion of Changing “Indigenous Peoples Day” Back to “Columbus Day”

Staff Reports

The New Britain Board of Education voted down a proposal to start consideration of a possible change of Indigenous Peoples Day back to Columbus Day in the city’s public school calendar.

At issue was a decision, in July 2020, in which the Board of Education changed the city schools’ recognition of Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day. That 2020 decision, by a 7 to 2 vote at the time, happened as the nation engaged in a wide discussion of systemic racism after the murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.

Republican Board of Education member Anthony Kane (R) proposed that the Board consider renaming Indigenous Peoples Day, currently on the school district calendar as a school holiday on Monday, October 10th, and then, in the October 3rd Board meeting, proposed referring the matter to a Board committee to consider a “compromise” with the old “Columbus Day” recognition.

A number of members of the public spoke in the Board’s public participation session at the beginning of the meeting, with most people speaking in favor of maintaining Indigenous People Day as the designation of the October 10th school holiday. Two people spoke in favor of returning to the Columbus Day designation, describing it as a recognition of Italian heritage, but other public speakers specifically discussed Christopher Columbus, himself, as being a figure unworthy of such honor.

The proposal to change from Indigenous People Day came during last weeks of the 2022 election season, as Republicans in Connecticut divisively seek to stoke notoriously racist crime politics and drive up fears on wedge social and cultural issues.

But, in the end, Republican Gayle Sanders-Connolly (R) joined Democrats in voting down the proposal. The Board, currently with 5 Republicans and 5 Democrats, rejected the motion to send the proposal to a committee, with 4 members in favor and 6 opposed. A vote to refer to committee would have had the effect of opening an official discussion on changing the current recognition of Indigenous People Day. The Board voted, instead, to keep the item in front of the full Board for a final definitive vote on the matter.

With the balance of votes opposed to the referral, Kane withdrew his proposal.

The Board of Education policy that was approved in 2020 had noted that,

In this time of increased awareness and in alignment with district priorities that include using an equity lens and anti-racism in all aspects of our practice, it behooves the New Britain Board of Education and the CSDNB to acknowledge that Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color (BBIPOC) still suffer from the ramifications of the colonial oppression that ensued at the hands of European explorers like Columbus.

After the murder of Floyd, the nationwide protest movement included a strong movement in New Britain, starting with a massive protest march on May 31, 2020, in which perhaps two thousand people marched through the streets of New Britain, demanding change in society to end racist inequality and violence.

That 2020 summer of protest against systemic racism included a focus on bringing down symbols of racism and colonialism, which renewed attention to accounts from a priest, Bartolome de las Casas, and others, telling about enslavement, murder, rape and other brutality upon native peoples under Christopher Columbus’ conquests.

“We have a responsibility,” the 2020 Board-approved policy said, “to reframe Euro-centric history by centering the experiences of the Indigenous Peoples in the United States and internationally – many of whom still struggle with income inequality, sovereignty, and equity in having their basic needs met in the health, education, and other sectors.”

The 2020 community re-evaluation of Christopher Columbus as a historic figure also included vigorous debate in city hall, focused on the statue of Christopher Columbus at McCabe Park, at the corner of Main and North streets. The New Britain Racial Justice Coalition led a protest campaign calling for statue of Columbus to be removed from its location in that public park. The opposition to removing the statue was criticized as being marred by racist commentary.

While the City Council initially voted for moving the statue, Republican Mayor Erin Stewart vetoed the decision, a veto sustained by Stewart’s Republican Council caucus.

But, in the Board of Education, the decision to replace “Columbus Day” with “Indigenous Peoples Day” in the school calendar was approved. That 2020 decision noted that the change to recognizing Indigenous People Day aligned well with the New Britain school district’s overall plans to change its curriculum to include greater emphasis on African American and Latino studies.

“We have much work to do to counter 500+ years of a history whose aftermath many in our community still experience today,” the 2020 policy change said, “but we can start by joining the growing list of Connecticut cities and school districts making this change, including CREC (2019), West Hartford (2018), and Bridgeport (2015).”