Comments on: Does Columbus deserve a federal holiday?

By: Jerome Bauer

Jerome Bauer — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:14:43 +0000

Just for fun, I recommend Orson Scott Card’s science fiction novel, “Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus.” If you had access to temporal engineering technology, how would you plan a kinder, gentler conquest of the Americas? Or would you make another plan?

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By: Jason Clevenger

Jason Clevenger — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:44:42 +0000

Things are never so simple. Offical Columbus Day celebrations came about largely through the efforts of 19th century Italian-Americas who were battling the entrenched and strong anti-immigrant anti-Catholic forces of the time. Columbus was a partiularly compelling figure for thier cause. It is easy to forget the decades of discrimination and violence that Irish and Italians endured in this country.

Further, it is a bit simplistic to lay the blame for centuries of oppresion and exploitation of native peoples at his feet. He only made 4 trips, never landed on the mainland, and died within a couple of decades of his first “discovery”. Did he forsee and intend all of the horrors that were come? It seems unlikely.

I think heros are important, But what history suggests to me is that we learn not to blindly vererate anyone. Use these celebrations as a time to examine our heros warts and all. Columbus’s actions within the context of his world were transformative and heroic. Rather than push him off the stage, let’s learn to see the fuller picture.

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:43:48 +0000

Sure we know about the horrors of what Columbus did, but we can’t go around telling 6 year olds that Columbus enslaved a race of indigenous people in the name of greed and Western Imperialism. Columbus was a very important and influential person in the formation of the USA, his horrific acts notwithstanding. If a Columbus Day didn’t exist, I would (in my naivete) maybe ask my 1st grade teacher why such a famous person doesn’t have his own day, and there’s no good answer for that. I just don’t think we should be teaching genocide to children until they’re old enough to actually comprehend what genocide implies.

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