CR's April 3, 2026 Times Standard Article—What or who do we want to commemorate?

Published on Apr 2 2026

Ever since reading the gut-wrenching account of the sexual abuse suffered by Dolores Huerta at the hands of Cesar Chavez, I have found myself questioning the value of lionizing specific individuals by naming national holidays after them. What is it we actually want to commemorate? These persons as individuals? Or the trajectory-shifting contributions they made to the unfolding story of these United States of America? 

This question first came to my attention during a conversation I had with my son on Martin Luther King Jr. Day a few years ago. He shared that, while he appreciated having paid time off, he felt it was a mistake to name holidays after specific people, especially when time had brought to light a range of mistakes, misconduct, and moral failings in their histories.

My son pointed out that at least three people for whom national holidays have been named: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, and Christopher Columbus, who, despite significant historical influence on the US, all had faults some would argue too egregious to have a national holiday named after them. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received a Nobel Peace Prize and is held in the highest regard for his role in the fight for civil rights. He was also a minister who, while espousing the values of that role, engaged in extramarital affairs with multiple women during his travels around the country.

It is undeniable that George Washington was a war hero and central figure in the founding of this nation. It is also a grim but unquestionable fact that Washington enslaved over three hundred human beings in the interest of securing his own political and economic wellbeing.

While Columbus is celebrated for “discovering” America, we know that there were already thousands of Native people living here who would soon face enslavement, removal, and genocide at the hands of their colonizers. There is also ample evidence of the imperialistic and cruel behaviors he and his men imposed on the original inhabitants of this continent. 

What if intellectual integrity would have us neither villainize nor idolize these individuals? What if we acknowledge them as flawed human beings who were also extraordinary leaders, and then shift our focus to the bigger picture of how their contributions shaped the experience of “We the People”?

If my son were alive today, he might argue that a holiday named for MLK should better reflect the cause Dr. King championed. I can imagine him suggesting that “Columbus Day” could be freed from moral ambivalence if it were renamed “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” as many states and communities have already done. And if he, like I, had just read Dolores Huerta’s account of the sexual abuse she and others endured under the impunity of a powerful man, I would not have wanted to see the pain and frustration in his eyes.

My son is not here today. But I am, and the strength of my commitment to accomplish all that I can for the betterment of this institution and this community is more than doubled by the awareness that I am acting also on his behalf and working to execute the changes he would have been proud to champion.

The day after Huerta’s story broke, my College of the Redwoods colleagues and I moved decisively to rename the March 31st holiday and its corresponding celebrations “Farmworkers Day”. We intend this change to highlight the profound impact this country’s oldest and most influential farmworkers’ union has had on this nation, thus honoring the legacy of the women and men who not only worked in the fields, but who marched for economic equality and political influence. In this, we also honor and acknowledge the individuals whose work in the fields continues to feed us to this day. 

We cannot, in good conscience, celebrate a figure whose legacy also includes the harm and victimization of women and children. To do so would ask us to separate achievement from accountability in a way that diminishes those who were harmed. 

As an entity whose purpose is education, College of the Redwoods has a moral imperative to provide not only facts, formulas and technical skills, but an environment that supports engagement in uncomfortable but necessary conversations. It is through this process that we help keep ourselves and each other accountable for being rigorous in the quality of our critical thinking. 

So, I ask again: In the naming of our holidays, what is it that we truly want to commemorate? These persons as individuals? Or the trajectory-shifting contributions they made to the unfolding story of these United States of America? For me, the answer is clear.