Columbus Day isn’t what it used to be & isn’t officially recognized in Florida
Bottom Line: It’s no secret that Christopher Columbus’s reputation isn’t what it once was in this country. Concerns about the use of slaves and abuse of power and influence of native peoples has increasingly led to less observance and greater activism in opposition to Columbus Day. What was once a day recognized by most of the country, it’s now a minority of states that recognize the day. Here’s the scorecard:
States that officially recognize Columbus Day
- 21
States that officially recognize Indigenous People’s Day
- 3
Which naturally tells you that 26, or just over half of the country doesn’t recognize anything officially. And Florida’s one of those states. In recent years there’s been some inference about this being a red vs blue thing, but it really isn’t. Out of the three states that recognize Indigenous People’s Day, you have one blue state, one red state and a purplish state that currently has Republican leadership.
Of the 21 states recognizing Columbus Day the breakout looks like this:
- Blue: 10
- Red:11
A near even split. So even as Americans debate the validity of Columbus Day, it generally isn’t along traditional political lines.