Denver Green Party Transform Columbus Day Statement

The Denver Green Party, and Greens everywhere, work for social justice and equal opportunity for all in our society. We believe that embracing ethnic and cultural diversity results in a stronger and more democratic society. This democratic embrace of diversity can serve as a means of resolving conflict as it works against racism, discrimination and inequality.

Therefore, as a means of working to heal the contemporary effects of historic racism and genocide in North America, the Denver Green Party endorses the call to transform the Columbus Day holiday.

Columbus Day celebrates a man and a worldview that began the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. As a city, state, and nation, we can work to heal this painful history by refusing to pay homage to Christopher Columbus, who inaugurated and participated in the ethnic cleansing of the Western Hemisphere.

The Denver Green Party calls upon Mayor Wellington Webb and Governor Bill Owens to use their leadership to end the Columbus Day Holiday in the City of Denver and the State of Colorado. We call upon our elected leaders to create a new state holiday that celebrates our diverse cultural heritage and envisions a future for the Americas that is free of racism and dedicated to social and economic justice for all.