Bill Introduced for Native American Day in California

Roger Hernandez, a Democratic state senator from California, is seeking to make his state the first in the nation to abolish Columbus Day. Hernandez has introduced the Native American Day Bill, called AB55, which is set to honor the people who were most affected by it.

Native American Day is recognized already as the fourth Friday in September, and became a state holiday in 1998. But Hernandez wants to make Native American Day a paid holiday, closing down state agencies, and he also wants the holiday to take place where Columbus Day used to be.

“We’re not trying to rewrite history,” Hernandez told the Huffington Post. “We just want to provide recognition and credit to the true discoverers of the land.”

“Why replace it? That’s the day we honor Columbus for discovering the Americas,” said Hernandez. “And that’s very unfair to the original inhabitants.”

Hernandez even compares Native American Day to Holocaust Remembrance day, which commemorates the suffering of the Jews during World War II.

“When we honor the victims that have suffered from genocide in Germany, it isn’t to be anti-German,” he explained. “It’s to bring proper recognition to people who have suffered and been displaced. This bill is looking to do that for the original settlers in the Americas.”