Goodbye, Columbus.
Vermont is on the brink of abolishing Columbus Day in a politically correct blow against colonialism.
“You know, it’s just a day, and we’ll get through it,” said Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R).
He also said he is likely to sign the measure, which passed both houses of the state legislature this week, into law.
The legislation will officially recognize the second Monday in October as “Indigenous People’s Day,” instead of honoring the explorer once credited with discovering America.
A last-ditch Republican attempt to preserve the October holiday and create a separate February holiday to honor Native Americans was defeated Wednesday.
The law would make Vermont the third state, after New Mexico and South Dakota, to yank Columbus Day off official calendars in favor of an anti-colonialist alternative.
Critics have attacked Columbus statues and celebrations in New York City and elsewhere, denouncing him as a murderer who mistreated Native Americans.
But Italian-Americans celebrate him as a national hero and mark the holiday as a point of ethnic pride.
New York’s Gov. Cuomo quietly designated the monument to the explorer at Columbus Circle a state landmark last fall to protect it from advocates who wanted it removed.