End Columbus Day?
DENVER (Reuters) - About 75 protesters, including American Indian activist Russell Means, were arrested on Saturday after blocking Denver's downtown parade honoring the Italian-born discoverer Christopher Columbus, an event they denounced as "a celebration of genocide."Protesters have a point. Columbus was a bold explorer and a talented sailor, but he also enslaved and executed Native Americans. He was jailed briefly for his tyrannical rule. In Columbus's defense, he was later released, though Spain refused to restore him as colonial governor. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
On top of that, historians long ago acknowledged that the Vikings arrived in North America long before Columbus, and Columbus himself insisted until his death that he had not discovered "The New World," but had actually landed in a remote part of Asia.
All this makes me wonder, is it time to end Columbus Day as an official holiday?
I know that Italian-Americans may object, but given that there's still some dispute about whether Columbus was even Italian, I'd like to offer up a trade.
How about March 9th for Amerigo Vespucci?
Or even better, January 30th for Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Read more...
