One of my RAs mentioned to me that he wished Fall Break was longer and stated that he wished we had Columbus Day off like the banks do. I said we don’t get Veteren’s Day off either and that is a holiday that I’d be more willing to celebrate.
Celebrating Columbus Day means celebrating the death and genocide of the Native Americans, dubbed “Indians” by Columbus.
In fourteen hundred and ninety-three, Columbus stole all he could see. (Loewen, 2007, pp. 31)
The heroification of Columbus in American culture is also troubling for a number of reasons. He is lauded as the discoverer of the new world, but that marginalizes the people who came to North America prior to 1492. A chart of suspected explorers who came to America prior to Columbus can be found here on Google Books.
On the whole, I think that we need to examine whether America should continue to celebrate and honor the actions of Christopher Columbus. Let’s Reconsider Columbus Day.
Reference
Loewen, J. W. (2007) Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong