Indigenous Peoples' Day got off to an inauspicious start when the Kansas City Chiefs were blown out by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. Then came reports that President Joe Biden's COVID-19 body count had reached another grim milestone: 300,000 deaths. Most distressingly of all, Google declined to make a special doodle to mark the occasion.
Lost in the malaise was any serious discussion of the heroes who deserve to be lauded on this special day—specifically the white journalists and other liberals who stimulated the economy by having brunch in Washington, D.C.
"Celebrating today like DC celebrates every 3 day weekend…Monday brunch," wrote one Twitter user whose bio boasts of her commitment to "championing equity from the Nation's capital." BuzzFeed, meanwhile, urged its followers to "Brunch it up!" in a tweet that promotes a series of fun brunch dishes, including cranberry lemon mimosas, mozzarella stick waffles, and heirloom tomato bruschetta.
"Cheers to Monday Brunch in celebration of #IndigenousPeoplesDay!" the Logan Circle hotspot Commissary DC posted from its Twitter account, along with a photo of two white women clinking glasses. "Our full breakfast & brunch menu is available, including bottomless Mimosas & Bloody Marys. Come on over!"
Commissary was among the restaurants included in Washingtonian magazine's list of recommendations for "Where to Find Brunch on Indigenous Peoples' Day Around DC." So was The Pig on 14th Street, which cited the article in a series of tweets to promote its "bottomless" beverage options.
"What's better than weekend brunch?" Washingtonian wrote. "Relaxing over mimosas on a holiday Monday." Of course, it would be stereotypical to suggest that everyone who has brunch in Washington, D.C., is a white liberal, but that doesn't mean it's not true.
The district in 2020 voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 92 percent to 5 percent. Washington, D.C., is also the only location in the country where the white share of the population increased in the last decade, even as the white population declined in all 50 states. (D.C. is not a state and never will be.)
According to data from the Census Bureau, 38 percent of the D.C. population was white in 2020, compared with just 34.8 percent in 2010. In what may or may not be a coincidence, there has been a surge in new brunch spots and other fancy dining options in and around D.C.
On this Indigenous Peoples' Day, be sure to thank a white liberal for doing their part to keep the economy running and the hospitality industry thriving in our country's wealthiest zip codes. Let them know that Christopher Columbus is looking down on them from heaven, smiling wide.