Thread by @Folsom8k

Brief thread on Columbus Day observance in Utah.
1. In 2016, Sen. Dabakis tried to change the name of the holiday to "Indigenous Peoples Day" with SB0170. It failed.

2. Luminaries like Todd Weiler called the deaths of Native Americans a "complicated issue" and protested the word "genocide". Sen. Weiler stated that he would not listen to history being re-written and have the good name of Columbus besmirched.
deseret.com/2016/3/1/20583…

3. From the article: Senator Weiler, "If they choose to feel oppressed, that's their right. But another holiday and demeaning someone else is not the way to lift yourself up again".

4. The bill failed 10-15.

5. I think the underlying rejection of dragging Columbus is that his veneration sits deep within the Mormon version of Manifest Destiny.

6. I don't know how many church talks I've endured in which Columbus is praised and described as "guided by God to discover this blessed land:.

7. The idea that Columbus was divinely appointed is written directly in the Book of Mormon.

8. His bad acts, including rape, torture, slavery, etc are all dismissed by rank and file Mormons because of the "greater good". America needed to be discovered so that the LDS church (the true church of Jesus Christ) could be restored.

9. Furthermore, Columbus gets a free pass for all the bad things he did or allowed due to the fact that the "lamanites" (the name Mormons use for all indigenous peoples in the Americas) had become a "dark, filthy, and loathsome people" (that's before the 2010 edit of the BOM).

10. The insidious sub text is that if you abandon God and His teachings, then someone can/will come along and destroy you. And that's fine, because you made bad choices. Also, you descendants will be raped, enslaved, and murdered, because of your bad choices.

11. This is highly problematic, but I strongly feel that this perspective heavily drives the narrative of Columbus in Utah.

12. That is why Senators like Mr. Weiler reject abandonment of Columbus Day. I suspect he feels, deep down, that the fundamental origin story of Mormonism has a foundation in the discovery(the discoverer) of this "sacred land".

13. If that is the case, then those that support Columbus see slavery and genocide are helpful tools used by God to "prepare a way" for his chosen people. He must have been, despite all of the atrocities, a vessel for God.

14. Bottom line: celebration of #ColumbusDay in Utah is problematic, has racist origins derived from text in the Book of Mormon, and should end.

Also, Indigenous peoples, don't "choose to feel oppressed", Senator Weiler. They were and are. #subtweet

15. Last one. Sorry it wasn't THAT brief.
I chose not to tag Senator Weiler because I have blocked him and do not wish to deal with his platitudes or ill-informed responses. He and I spoke at length on this issue in 2016. He denied the veracity of history then, he will do it now