Fox News segment on “Fall Weekend” (click here for video)
In May 2011, Fox News Anchorwoman Megyn Kelly portrayed Brown’s decision for “Fall Weekend” as an affront to American history, equating the protests against celebrating Columbus to a rejection of all historical events that established the United States.[1] When national news ridicules activism as an insult to a dominant narrative like the myth of a heroic Columbus, it limits the power of activism to reconcile the pain caused by a memorial’s histories of violence. The dominant narrative’s broad presence in media maintains a space for the public to be ignorant of these histories.
[1] “Fall Weekend – Brown University Renames Columbus Day,” Fox News video, 4:41, May 2, 2011, http://video.foxnews.com/v/3928547/fall-weekend/#sp=show-clips.