Columbus Day

If you haven't heard, things at Akron City Council went bananas over a proposal to rename Columbus Day to National Indigenous People's Day. Read all about it here.

Here for your enjoyment are my two cents on the subject.

Columbus Sucked

In grade school you're given a children's understanding of Columbus.

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue

You learn the names of the ships. You're taught that Columbus was a bold explorer that knew that the earth was round (everyone thought the earth was round, since the ancient Greeks), etc. etc.

But that's for children. When you get older you learn that Columbus was a wretched human who murdered for profit. He killed and abused the natives. Not to mention he was eventually hated and despised even by his own countrymen. One writer notes that Columbus fell so far out of favor that the lands he discovered ended up being named for a map maker instead of him.

Columbus brought the eastern and western hemispheres together permanently, for better and for worse. But the rest of his life ruins and taints this accomplishment forever.

Italian Heritage

The holiday itself was started by Italians to celebrate Italian heritage. To this I say, great! But why in the world would you pick someone like this to represent your culture? Were Mussolini and Caligula holidays already taken?

No historical figure is perfect but there are many more Italians who have a solid history and represent your country much better.

Heck, the writers of the Ninja Turtles were able to find FOUR awesome Italians to name their
characters.

Italians, step up your game. Pick someone else.

America's History is Messy

We just have to admit it. Our history is messy and not always nice. We as a country have done some really terrible things that fly in the face of everything we say we stand for.

A mature country should be able to look at its past, acknowledge both the good and bad, and be able to reconcile and move forward. We can learn from the mistakes of our past and do better.

Columbus, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and more were all great men. They also had great flaws just like the rest of us. Denying that makes us look like simpletons and makes these people into poorly written comic book characters instead of the complicated, enduring people they are.

We don't have to throw out the baby with the bath water. Our country has great values and has risen to the occasion many times. Let's work towards doing that more and doing bad less. The start of this could be to stop honoring someone who did many terrible things and honoring those who did good.

Steve