Today Is Christopher Columbus Day.
By bostonphil
@bostonphil (4459)
United States
October 10, 2011 11:04pm CST
When I was growing up in Boston, Christopher Columbus day was a big deal. The city celebrated. There was a parade. I believe that it was a holiday for all.
Times have changed. I now live in Austin, Texas. No one celebrates Christopher Columbus day. Federal agencies are closed but everything else is open. I am not certain that anyone else even cares.
Some, if not all of this, is because of political correctness. Because the truth is that when Christopher Columbus discovered America, nothing would be the same for Native Americans. For them, it is a day of mourning.
In some ways, it is also a day of mourning for Jews around the world. Because as Columbus was preparing and leaving to discover a new world, The Inquisition was beginning in Spain. Up to this time period, Jews were accepted, welcomed and had a comfortable life in Spain. But around the time period that Columbus was leaving to discover a new world, life was now going to be changing for The Jewish people in Spain. And it would never be the same again.
How do you feel about Columbus Day? Were there any celebrations in your community?
2 people like this
4 responses
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
11 Oct 11
I think the holiday lost it's zeal once we all wondered Why are we celebrating a guy discovering a Country that was already discovered many , many years before? I don't celebrate it . It is just another Monday. What I think of when I hear Christopher Columbus is that old bugs Bunny cartoon. When Chris was trying to convince the King of Spain the world was round. It is so funny. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6Solpl4aQ
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
11 Oct 11
The link is Bugs Bunny Hare We Go. It is at You tube.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
11 Oct 11
Of Course! It Should be a holiday! Us Americans Need holidays. We will make them up if we need to. If I were president super Bowl Monday would be a day off too!
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
11 Oct 11
Thank you for the info. I will try to check it out. The holiday has lost its zeal. I believe that it is due to political correctness. In Boston, it was a huge event when I was growing up. It is possible that it is still an event but I think that it has been toned down.
You are right when you say that it was discovered years before. After all, Native Americans lived here. Columbus discovered America for White Europeans. And because of that, the lives of Native Americans would never be the same.
So should some persons even have a day off on Columbus Day? Should it be a holiday?
1 person likes this
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
12 Oct 11
Columbus is now a hated enemy in much of the US...School kids are either no longer taught about him or they are taught that he was evil. I do not think that he was as evil as we would like to believe. He was not coming here to do damage...He just took a wrong turn on his way to India and the lucrative spice trade.
People will no longer stop and think about the inventions of sailing because of Columbus nor will they think about the harsh voyages he and his crew endured in their origional quest.
Columbus is not the creator of evil, he just came and opened the door for others.
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
12 Oct 11
I do not see Columbus as bad yet alone evil, He was an explorer and that is what explorers did and do. They explore and discover. But because of his discovery, other cultures and races would suffer for hundreds of years.
I believe that school children should continue to learn about him. And of the great things that he did accomplish even if some bad came from it.
@Lore2009 (7378)
• United States
11 Oct 11
I remember Columbus day as a holiday when I was younger and then I remember when it stopped being one and I was disappointed because we lost a no school day. But now, I do wonder why it ever was a holiday in the US since he didn't really sail into the US 1st and he was commissioned by Spain. Sure he opened the connections but there's a lot of other people who did greater things that may have 'benefited' the US to bring it to where it is today.. but US is such a diverse country with opinions from many different people.
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
12 Oct 11
I have grown to see things differently over the years. I now wonder why we celebrate Columbus Day or why did we ever celebrate it like we did.
I do not see Columbus as a bad person -- quite the opposite. But his discovery of North America was devastating for Native Americans. He opened the door for White Europeans but at the expense of Native Americans and Africans who would later be brought over as slaves.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 Oct 11
I don't know if my community celebrated today or not. I had a passing thought that our elites are always trying to rewrite history to suit themselves, and Columbus is no longer celebrated for the hardships he endured and the faith that saw him through that voyage that landed him near what we now call America. Columbus was doing what explorers were expected to do during the period when he lived. Does that make him a bad man? He had a vision and he followed it. If any of those criticizing him today had actually walked in his shoes (or sailed on his ship ) in that period, they probably would have done just what he did. The whole world behaved differently back then. And some of it still behaves in a similar way. Only the actors have changed.
What my community actually celebrated this weekend was it's own heritage of Pioneer Day. There was a parade on Saturday and a free bean feed in the park. It's an annual tradition. We also had the Central Coast Railroad Festival. I suppose much of our community was using the holiday to rest up after a big weekend.
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
11 Oct 11
It might be that we had a very big celebration in Boston because we had a very large Italian population. I believe that cities that have large Italian populations had large Columbus Day celebrations and maybe still have. The Northeast might still have Columbus Day celebrations but I think that they have been scaled back. it definitely is not what it used to be and that is due to political correctness.
Is it bad or good? I don't know.
I do not believe that anyone sees Columbus as a bad man. No one is blaming him for what would eventually happen to the Native Americans under White Europeans. But the discovery of America by Columbus would alter the lives of Native Americans forever. For them, Columbus Day is a day of mourning.
