Ron Johnson - Abolish Columbus Day

Ron Johnson has accomplished a lot during his time in the U.S. Senate, but this is a mistake.

In response to a bipartisan effort to give federal workers another day of paid leave by designating Juneteenth a federal holiday, we have offered a counterproposal that does not put us further in debt.

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 2, 2020

We support celebrating emancipation with a federal holiday, but believe we should eliminate a current holiday in exchange. We chose Columbus Day as a holiday that is lightly celebrated.

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 2, 2020

My sole motivation for offering this amendment to the Juneteenth bill is to prevent giving federal workers another paid holiday and incurring the additional cost.

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 2, 2020

It is not deprecating Christopher Columbus’ achievements or expressing any value judgement regarding his place in history. I do not support efforts to erase America’s rich history — not the good, the bad, or the ugly.

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 2, 2020

I understand why Ron Johnson and James Lankford chose Columbus Day to eliminate as a compromise for making room for Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Johnson is correct. Columbus Day is "lightly celebrated."

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers declared Columbus Day to be Indigenous Peoples' Day, joining several other states.

So, yes, Columbus Day has already been diminished. I suppose Johnson thinks most Americans wouldn't miss Columbus Day as a federal holiday. Moreover, I believe Johnson doesn't agree with the anti-America mob destroying statues of America's historical figures and insisting names of buildings, schools, and parks be changed to meet the mob's anti-America demands.

However, there's a problem.

Since Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of the violent, lawless, anti-America mob's wrath in recent weeks, it is a major misstep for Johnson to propose that Columbus Day be abolished to make way for Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

The expense of adding a federal holiday is a consideration, but those concerns cannot be alleviated at the expense of Christopher Columbus.

The anti-America mob, including Black Lives Matter and Antifa and other Marxists, cannot claim the victory of abolishing Christopher Columbus. Ron Johnson and James Lankford should recognize that.