Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Reconsider Columbus Day?
What do you guys think? Although Columbus "discovered" the Americas does he deserve to have a day on which we remember and pay tribute to his achievements? Or shall we remember the people, cultures and history impacted then and recognize and celebrate the people and cultures of today.
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I'd love to see Columbus Day go away. Don't agree? Read "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. Then, you will.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this video, I thought back to all my years in elementary education...and even the years I was in middle school, where I was taught about the harmony that the Pilgrims and Native Americans felt towards one another. It wasn't until I was in high school that I was actually taught what really happened when the Europeans came to America. When I was faced with the reality that Christopher Columbus did some horrible things, I wondered why we even have this day to celebrate him. My confusion probably stemmed from being taught the cookie cutter version of the "Thanksgiving story". I now understand that Columbus Day is offensive to many. But my American Heritage teacher said something concerning it that makes more sense to me, he said that Columbus Day, in a sense, celebrates the voyage that led to the country we have today. I don't know if this justifies it for me, but it does soften its meaning in a way.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching that clip, it's easy to say "to heck with Columbus Day." That man did some terrible things, there is no doubt in my mind of that. People were already on this continent, he was not he first man to discover it. Having said that, if it wasn't for him, many of the people living in the United States today would not be here to celebrate anything.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Columbus day is not necessarily a day to celebrate the life of Columbus, but to celebrate the new immigration into this country. I believe that Native Americans are very important people in our culture, but I do not believe we should have a holiday to celebrate them instead of having Columbus day. If it were not for Columbus opening up immigration to this country, there would be no one to celebrate the holiday for Native Americans, except Native Americans.
I am no, by any means, saying that Columbus is a person that we should look up to, but he did do some very important things and most citizens today can offer him at least some thanks for their lives today.