Does anyone really even care about Christopher Columbus?

[Mallard]

This is nearly 530 years ago. Heck, time to MOVE ON!:eek:

[Pantastic]

@Mallard

This is nearly 530 years ago. Heck, time to MOVE ON!:eek:

The objection is not to the existence of Columbus (who is long dead anyway) but to the ongoing celebration honoring a torturing, murdering, slaving, rapist who was so awful that people in his own time objected to him, and the false history that he was ‘just this guy’ and that he discovered America. Pretending that this is about something ‘nearly 530 years ago’ and not something ‘two days ago, and scheduled to happen again next year’ isn’t really addressing the problem.

[Two_Many_Cats]

@Pantastic

The objection is not to the existence of Columbus (who is long dead anyway) but to the ongoing celebration honoring a torturing, murdering, slaving, rapist who was so awful that people in his own time objected to him, and the false history that he was ‘just this guy’ and that he discovered America. Pretending that this is about something ‘nearly 530 years ago’ and not something ‘two days ago, and scheduled to happen again next year’ isn’t really addressing the problem.

Man! Columbus has had more historical makeovers than George Washington, General Custer, and Eliot Ness combined.

[BigT]

Columbus was a bad man, but it was indeed his voyage the discovered the Western Hemisphere and took that information back to Western culture. It makes sense to celebrate his discovery–just not the man. That’s why I’ve proposed making it “Western Hemisphere Day.” Alternatively, we could celebrate the idea of exploration and discovery in general, calling it “Explorers Day” or “Discovery Day.”

I don’t get making it “Indigenous People’s Day.” What historical event does it honor for them? The start of “Western civilization” encroaching upon their land and spreading disease?

[Steophan]

@BigT

Columbus was a bad man, but it was indeed his voyage the discovered the Western Hemisphere and took that information back to Western culture.

No, it wasn’t, it was Leif Eiriksson who did that. Norse and Icelandic culture was, and is, very much part of Western culture. What Columbus (accidentally) did was figure out a way to get there after the northern oceans became impassable as the mediaeval warm period ended.

Which also led to the end of the first Western settlements on the continent of America, in Greenland, which had been continuously settled by Icelanders for over 500 years, starting from the very end of the 10th century.

[thorny_locust]

@DrCube

Also, am I alone in thinking replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day is a slap in the face to Native Americans?

You’re probably not alone; but quite a few Native Americans were and are active in agitating for that replacement, both from the beginning and recently.

Indigenous Peoples' Day

In July 1990, at the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, representatives of indigenous groups throughout the Americas agreed that they would mark 1992, the 500th anniversary of the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, as a year to promote “continental unity” and “liberation”. [ . . . ]
In 1992, the group convinced the city council of Berkeley, California, to declare October 12 as a “Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People” and 1992 the “Year of Indigenous People”.

https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/map-making-indigenous-peoples-day-official-across-the-country-NRjFLa8jfESLKAl831N8aA/

A map of the 11 states and 129 cities recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day in 2019

In 2011, the National Congress of American Indians passed a formal resolution advocating for the second Monday of October to be renamed Indigenous Peoples Day.

[asterion]

@BigT

I don’t get making it “Indigenous People’s Day.” What historical event does it honor for them? The start of “Western civilization” encroaching upon their land and spreading disease?

Falling behind on the tech tree.

[furryman]

Fourty plus years ago they taught the basics in history. Columbus discovered the new world in 1492. At the time it seemed important and possibly heroic. Suddenly years later I find out that he took natives as slaves. Disappointing to say the least.