Concord City Council To Consider Changing Columbus Day To Indigenous Peoples Day

CONCORD, NH — A proposal by a Concord city councilor to change the name of the Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day without a public hearing was nixed on Monday but the full body and the public will debate the issue in November.

Ward 10 Concord City Councilor Zandra Rice Hawkins, at the end of business at Monday’s meeting, made a motion to change the name of the holiday. She said the change had been “advocated for decades” and the acknowledgment of Columbus caused “cultural harm” since his voyages to the New World in the 1400s, considered to be the discovery of America by some, was considered genocide to others.

“It helps acknowledge the physical and virtual harm of genocide and discrimination that indigenous peoples have faced,” she said. “In the spirit of social justice, equity and equality, this is a change worth making and is in line with the Concord School District and several other New Hampshire communities.”

Rice Hawkins also requested the council act on the proposal immediately without a public hearing. While “big on public input,” she added, “it was not our role to debate the validity of lived experiences, of historically marginalized communities, when they tell us that something is harmful to them, making them relive the trauma, year after year.”

Since the holiday is in the city’s code of ordinances, according to council rules, a proposal to change the name of the holiday required proper notification to residents and a public hearing, according to Jim Kennedy, the city solicitor. He said an ordinance could be written quickly but notification would put off a public hearing until the council’s November meeting, according to both council rules and state law. After some discussion about suspending the rules to allow for immediate approval, most councilors thought it would be best to follow standard procedures.

“I’m going to vote against this proposal,” Fred Keach, an at-large city councilor said, “I think it is short-sighted not to involve the community in the discussion. I think we are way ahead of ourselves if we just set this down as an ordinance change without input from constituents. I don’t necessarily disagree with the idea. But I want to hear from the community.”

Outgoing Ward 6 City Councilor Linda Kenison agreed.

“I don’t see a reason to speed this up since we wouldn’t be hearing it until after the holiday anyway,” she said. “I’d like to go through the regular process. I would support that. I agree with what is being put forward, but I’d like to go through the regular process.”

Jennifer Kretovic of Ward 3 said she had concerns since the holiday was really “about discovery … a man traveling west not east” but it had become a holiday the Italian Americans immigrant population cherished “as a celebration at a time they were being oppressed — because they were short and of a dark color.” She added, “I would hate to replace one holiday by suppressing another segment of a population” and “would love to see the community come together.” In Canada, Kretovic said, indigenous day was celebrated at the summer solstice because it aligns with the agriculture growing period.

At-Large City Councilor Byron Champlin also supported community input and delved into some of the history of Columbus Day, noting it was first enacted by President Benjamin Harrison in the 1890s after the lynching of 11 Italian-Americans in New Orleans — one of the worst mass lynchings in American history. Italian-Americans, he said, were active in requesting the holiday to counter prejudices including “WOP,” which was short for “without papers,” which became a derogatory remark. Growing up in Rhode Island, Champlin said, the Italo community celebrates the holiday not to honor genocide “but the achievements of the Italians in our midst” — like Joe DiMaggio and Guglielmo Marconi. He suggested “getting Columbus out of it” and maybe changing the name to Indigenous And Italian-Americans Day or something else that allowed Italians to keep their holiday while also honoring Native Americans.

Other councilors also supported the regular order change with Amanda Grady Sexton, another at-large city councilor, stating suspending the rules for this change, without public input, was a mistake.

“I’m concerned about what would stop a future council or government body from proposing something such as a white nationalist holiday in the future,” she said, “and I would absolutely want the community involved and to provide feedback on something that was as egregious as I thought that would be. It’s very important to have public input.”

Rice Hawkins then withdrew the motion to have the holiday changed that night but requested a procedure to have it dealt with at a future hearing.

There was discussion about whether or not the rules should be suspended to have the notification made at the Sept. 20 hearing about cable service competition in the city and have a public hearing for the council’s October meeting or just place the public notice in October for a November meeting. Kennedy said the issue then became what to put in its place for the ordinance change either a hearing with the current name stricken, no specific name change, or a proposed change to Indigenous Peoples Day. He also suggested a study committee to look at the issue.

Rice Hawkins requested the ordinance add Indigenous Peoples Day and eliminate Columbus Day from city materials and ordinances.

Ward 9 Councilor Candace Bouchard, who was leading the meeting as mayor pro tempore, confirmed the public notice would be made in October and a public hearing made in November.

Keach said he would vote against the change because none of the councilors had received input from the public about how to change the name.

“It is premature to draft an ordinance without having a discussion of what it should be called and shouldn’t be called,” he said. “The process ought to be gathering input from our citizens and there’s absolutely no rush (with) this. With all due respect, councilor, it just seems like you are trying to push this through quickly. I think it is important to get input and we are circumventing that process.”

Champlin countered the November meeting would offer the opportunity for the public to share their thoughts about the issue. So did Kenison, who said the ordinance might not be approved in the end. Nyhan though agreed with Keach.

“I don’t even know what this is going to look like,” he said, adding that maybe the city should consider Cultural Awareness Day, an all-encompassing day for Italians, indigenous people, and everyone. “To have a moniker on a day seems a little premature. We should leave the day blank and leave the substance of what we are going to celebrate open.”

Bouchard said the way the motion was in place allowed for changes. Kennedy needed direction for the change to get the process started, she said. Earl Pierce of Ward 2 also wanted clarification on the ability to change the motion or if more public hearings would be required. Kennedy said no.

“The important thing is transparency to the public,” Kennedy said.

Ward 1 Councilor Brent Todd said councilors may need more time or could create a committee and there was plenty of time since the public hearing would happen after the 2021 holiday. Nathan Fennessy, another at-large councilor, also asked about the process and whether there was another way to gain public information about the change. Kennedy said, normally, a committee would be formed and public hearings and discussion would be held. The committee would then bring back information to the council.

Rice Hawkins, however, raised the issue of the lack of social justice discussions by the council — an issue raised 16 months ago but something that she did not believe had occurred. While talking, Kretovic interrupted her and said, “We have been in a pandemic.” Bouchard then told Kretovic to let Rice Hawkins finish. Rice Hawkins, instead, countered that the gas holder conversation, as well as its finances, was dealt with in a short timeframe, during the pandemic.

“I want to be really honest,” she said. “I’m not really interested in a blank ordinance. I am interested in what has been asked for since the ‘70s, 50 years ago … We all got an email last week. This is not hard and I want to really emphasize that people hurt when they hear this. And there is a reason why — people died and they were killed. This is not something that is up for public debate.”

Rice Hawkins suggested councilors watch “Frozen 2,” one of her children’s favorite films, which offers the thought, When you know better, you do better, what’s the next best choice?

“I would really, really not like to do any study committee,” Rice Hawkins said. “I would just like us to move forward and have this conversation, as our council committed that we would do for our city, around issues like this.”

Karen McNamara of Ward 4, an educator, said she did not think the process was rushed and agreed it should be opened up to a community discussion but added that she did not like the idea of a blank name or a lot of time spent studying the change.

Champlin then moved the question and the council voted 12-2 with both Keach and Nyhan voting against the proposal.

Mayor Jim Bouley was on vacation and did not attend the meeting.

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