This is political correctness on steroids. What’s this town is doing to ban this holiday is just over the top. Do you think that the holiday should stay? Or should they change it to avoid offending anyone?
AMHERST — Middle school teacher Matthew Venditti has taught a unit known as an “inquiry segment” on Christopher Columbus before, but this school year marked the first time his eighth-grade students wanted to do more than learn and debate.
The 18 Amherst Regional Middle School students in Venditti’s class want the town to stop recognizing Columbus Day and instead recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day — a holiday with roots in Berkely, California that honors Native American history and culture.
With the help of residents, the students have filed a petition asking Town Meeting this spring to pass a resolution stating that, in Amherst, the second Monday of October will commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day “in recognition of the indigenous people of America’s position as native to these lands, and the suffering they faced following European conquest of their lands.”
“This is the first group who had the organization skills, the communication skills… to make change and reach (out) to the community. It’s really impressive,” Venditti said of his students.
Read more: Mass Live
