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Vox: Why the US celebrates Columbus Day

submitted by ant

5 years 8 months 1 week ago

"Should Columbus Day be Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
...
In past decades, Christopher Columbus has gone from unquestioned US hero to problematic figure. For centuries, the destruction and disease he ushered into the Americas have been set aside, allowing the myth of a pioneering sailor who discovered America and proved the world was round to embed itself in US culture. But as this myth has been increasingly confronted with brutal historical facts, things have started to change.

While Columbus still has a national holiday in his honor, complete with parades and celebrations, there are many people fighting to dismantle the myth that surrounds him and choosing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.

Watch this video to understand how Columbus became a US icon over time and why his status is in question today..."

2 Comments

Mordhaus

says...

He may never have reached Asia as planned, but one cannot discount the sheer will required to make his journey. At the age of 41, he defied naysayers across Europe and led four voyages across an uncharted ocean in wooden sailing ships that were not designed to take on the punishing waters of the Atlantic.

In what has become known as the Columbian Exchange, Columbus’ voyages enabled the exchange of plants, animals, cultures, ideas (and, yes, disease) between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Once the Europeans were able to reach nearly all parts of the globe, a new modern age would begin, transforming the world forever.

Some historians have taken the position that while brutal, Columbus was simply a product of his times and being a figure of the 15th century should not be judged by the morality of the 20th-century.