Do the business leaders outside of South Dakota know that October 12 is Native American Day? Or do they even care?
Chastising the ignoramuses still advertising Columbus Day
By Native Sun News Today Editorial Board
nativesunnews.today It happens every year and we have been fighting it for 26 year now. Just as sure as clockwork the advertisements for department stores like Herberger’s, J. C. Penny’s and Kohl’s announce their annual Columbus Day Sales. Some of our local banks are also announcing they will be closed for Columbus Day. It shows that without a doubt the out-of-state owners of these businesses have no clue about the holidays that shape the interests of the local minorities. It should have been up to the local store managers to inform and educate their corporate bosses that the large Native American population in South Dakota celebrates a state-sanctioned holiday known as Native American Day. This state holiday replaced Columbus Day in 1990. Even back then some of the local yokels decried the fact that their hero Christopher Columbus was being slighted by the State of South Dakota and all Native Americans. They should take note that Columbus has never been a favorite of the Indian people. If a foreign invader had come to your lands and killed thousands of innocent people would you still regard him as a hero? We think not! Every year we publish the names of some of the stores and banks that continue to ignore Native American Day. This has been going on, as we said at the beginning, for 26 years. Many years ago, when Tim Giago was first starting the Lakota Times newspaper in Pine Ridge Village, 35 years ago to be exact, he was pretty well lambasted by most of South Dakota’s mainstream media for criticizing them for the lack of coverage of Indians, or their downright erroneous coverage. He said when confronted by the mainstream media, “South Dakota media is like the proverbial mule; you have to hit it between the eyes with a 2-by-4 in order to get its attention, and that is what I intend to keep doing.” We think it is time for all of South Dakota’s Native Americans to get out the 2-by-4’s because we need to get the attention of the mainstream media and of the department stores with foreign corporate headquarters’ to allow us to enjoy Native American Day without reminding us every year that it still does not understand that there is no longer a Columbus Day in this State. And once again we must remind the store managers in Rapid City and across South Dakota that it is their duty to inform and educate their corporate masters living far away that Columbus Day was replaced by Native American Day by a legal act of the government of South Dakota. Check out all of the Columbus Day sales ads and be sure to consider them a slap in the face to all Native Americans who fought so hard to change that day to Native American Day. Every student in every Indian school should take offense at this blatant slam to their special day. We are inviting all Native American school children to write a short essay to Native Sun News Today telling our readers and corporate America why you believe Native American Day is special and why the large corporations should start recognizing it as a Native American holiday. We will print all of the essays submitted to us and send that newspaper to every corporate office that still advertises Columbus Day. In essence what they are doing is a poorly disguised and ignorant display of racism.
For more news and opinion visit the Native Sun News Today website Chastising the ignoramuses still advertising Columbus Day (Contact the Editorial Board at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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