# Columbus Day v Indigenous People's Day v Leif Erikson Day

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 11, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323 "2021-10-11T21:56:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 368

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323/368 "2021-11-10T16:01:13Z")

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> [@Religious/Secular holidays in America (mostly Christmas, split from the Columbus Day thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-secular-holidays-in-america-mostly-christmas-split-from-the-columbus-day-thread/954138/55):
>
> Categorization is useful for some purposes. Thinking that because it’s useful for some purposes those nice neat lines actually exist, and that they couldn’t just as well be drawn in other places or removed altogether for purposes for which that’s more useful, is a problem.

I don’t deny the existence of alternatives, the choice to distinguish U.S. history from Irish history &etc. is entirely mine and follows from the bright-line definition of national identity I have used.

The main argument of **Kimstu** seems to be, because U.S. history is broader than the history of the people who considered themselves part of the United States, my concept of national identity is wrong. My counterargument is that, in my opinion, U.S. history is a narrower topic than she implied; I doubled down.

~Max

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