Akron could soon abolish Columbus Day — what some in a deeply divided America equate to yet another celebration of slavery and white oppression. City Councilman Russ Neal is proposing that the Oct. 12 holiday honoring Christopher Columbus’ fateful and first American landing in 1492 be changed to Indigenous People’s Day to celebrate Native American culture while confronting the atrocities committed by European explorers who came for gold and returned with ships full of slaves.
“What it’s doing,” Neal said of his plan to introduce a resolution next month, “is it’s correcting the wrongs of the genocide that took place.”
