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Boston's Morning Newsletter
Indigenous rights advocates: Ending Columbus Day is about more than renaming holiday
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Happy Monday, especially if you have the day off today. But it’s not all long-weekend-good-vibes here in Massachusetts, as the name of the federal holiday we’re commemorating is still contended at the state level.
A push for recognition: Though some cities and towns across Massachusetts have elected to recognize this Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, the state officially acknowledges today as Columbus Day. (The federal holiday is still Columbus Day, but for the last three years President Biden has also proclaimed the same date as Indigenous Peoples Day.) WBUR’s John Bender spoke with Jean-Luc Pierite, President of the North American Indian Center of Boston, who shared how the desired move away from Columbus Day in Massachusetts plays into a larger push for Indigenous peoples’ rights.
- The bill advocating for a statewide Indigenous Peoples Day is only one in a slate of five bills meant to improve the widespread recognition of Indigenous history in Massachusetts. Two of the bills relate to public education (like this one to include more Native American cultural history in public school curriculums, and this to prohibit Native American mascots in schools). Others concern establishing a permanent commission for Indigenous communities in Massachusetts and the repatriation of artifacts.
- There is a reason Indigenous Peoples Day is at the forefront of all these broader bills, according to Pierite. “We need to reinforce the progress being done at a city level,” Pierite said. “We’ve seen legislation in New Hampshire that has rolled back progress that was done on the city- and town-level in terms of adopting Indigenous Peoples Day. So, the need for a statewide solution within Massachusetts [is] much more apparent.”
Starting the conversation: Boston’s Reparations Task Force is giving out tens of thousands of dollars to groups across the city to advance the conversation about reparations for Black residents. The funds will go to 26 groups “to create community-based spaces and honor the untold stories of Black residents of Boston,” according to Mayor Michelle Wu’s office. City officials said it’s an expansion of the task force’s community engagement efforts.
- Zoom in: One of the recipients, United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury, plans to use the money to host a conversation about the history of Lower Roxbury and what reparations may look like in the neighborhood, WBUR’s Simón Rios reports. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Council of Churches will hold meetings about reparations within religious communities. You can read the full list of recipients here.
- What’s next: The reparations task force said it plans to deliver a report with recommendations on how possible reparations for Black Bostonians would work sometime in 2025.
What’s new with Question 2: Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler says he is “adamantly opposed” to Question 2, the ballot question that would eliminate passing MCAS testing as a high school graduation requirement. Tutwiler told WCVB’s On the Record he believes standardized tests provide insight into where students may need support. “I think any student can be successful on an assessment if they have the proper support,” he said.
- Question 2 is backed by the Massachusetts Teachers’ Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union. You can read more about the cases for voting yes or no, plus the history of the test, in our helpful ballot question explainer here.
Family and friends of Ethel Kennedy will gather today in Cape Cod for a private funeral service honoring the matriarch, who died Thursday at the age of 96. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is inviting visitors to share their thoughts in a condolences book, which will remain in the library’s lobby this week.
- Cognoscenti contributor Eileen McNamara interviewed Kennedy back in 2016. “There was so much fun in her stories and so much laughter in the retelling that I hesitated before asking how she had weathered the many tragedies that had marked her life,” McNamara writes in this essay.
P.S.— If you’ve finished your weekend errands and are looking for a spontaneous way to spend your (hopefully) day off, check out our guide to day trips in Massachusetts. Whether you’re a nature lover, foodie or history buff, we’ve got some fun picks for you.
