May Day
Posted By Dan on May 1, 2007
In yet another example if weird American iconoclasticism, we don’t celebrate May Day (at work, some guys we work with in India have the day off b/c it’s a national holiday there). We have Labor Day instead. Why?
Oh, Wikipedia to the rescue:
With the Chicago Haymarket riots in early May of 1886, President Grover Cleveland believed that a May 1 holiday could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus, fearing that it might strengthen the socialist movement, he quickly moved in 1887 to support the position of the Knights of Labor and their date for Labor Day.
Oh, right. You know, for the most powerful country in the world, we sure do have a lot of historical insecurity and fear. Happy May Day, everyone! If you’re like me, you’re at work. There’s something weird about that…
The best part is that May 1, in the US, is Loyalty Day.
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Back in those Industrial Age days, there was real fear of a socialist workers revolt in the US. So pulling the pagan/communist Mayday out of public attention was insecure but with good enough reason. It’s interesting how that part of US labor history seems to always get forgotten (though in Chicago, Haymarket Riots are still somewhat of a big deal; out here in CA, we look more towards recent agricultural history, Cesar Chavez and the 60s).
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