Will you be celebrating Columbus day today?

He was a monster. I wish his dad pulled out.

@johnpowell i take it you won’t be joining in the festivities.

Dia de la Raza!

Why is this even a holiday? Columbus had nothing to do with the United States.

I’m glad I’m here. So I’m glad he came.

Generally, there aren’t any ‘festivities’ to join in, unless you count sales at every store under the sun. It’s more like a passive holiday, though there are a few towns that hold parades and what-not.

The first European to buy a time share in the Bahamas? Hell yeah!

No. He had an awful view of the natives, really had nothing to do with the discovery of America at all (it had been ‘discovered’ at l east once before), and not only that, part of me wishes Europeans had never made it this far west. I know I had nothing to do with it, but I am ashamed to be associated with lying, cheating, and genocide, even if that association is purely because of my skin color.

It shouldn’t be a holiday at all, it’s ridiculous.

By the way, it’s already Tuesday here in the States. Columbus Day is actually over. ;)

Check out a bit of history and you’ll be disappointed that we were all taught _In 14-hundred-and-ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue
And found this land, land of the free. Beloved by you, beloved by me_

The discovery of America
except, it wasn’t

Never ones to let facts stand in the way of a good story, the Revolutionary leaders, distressed that their fledgling country had no heroes of mythic proportion (who weren’t British), settled on the almost forgotten Spaniard; an explorer best known for heading the wrong direction and brutalizing the natives he accidentally discovered.
Now we have a useless holiday on October 12. No parades, no feasts, no exchange of gifts and cards… just closure of govt services, banks and post offices.

There are not a lot of celebrations here. On the West Coast, it goes almost unrecognized.

No.

@augustlan Columbus Day is October 12. You guys observe things on the wrong date.

why would anybody want to celebrate a holocaust? as far as i’m concerned, commemorating Paradise lost is a cause célèbre, hardly a highlight in the history of human endeavour. is it? Surely.

This won’t deserve a “Great Answer” by any rate, since I’m just quoting some notable parts of another website’s notes, but they’re very notable notes. If you know what I mean.

“His criminal record and time in prison are often ignored. In reality, he instituted the encomienda system, causing the genocide of the original islanders. He also used his foreknowledge of an impending eclipse to terrify the native population. And after you learn how awful he was you also learn that this behavior was expected. And after you learn that the Queen was so horrified that she never let him go back; you learn that the only reason for her horror was that she wanted converts not corpses. The story of Columbus is like an onion.”

“Another misconception fostered in schools is that the entire world thought the world was flat. Columbus thought it was round and proved it. This is incorrect; a great deal of the Medieval world knew the world was round. Columbus thought it was pear shaped. He was also convinced he’d found the route to India and threatened anyone who suggested he’d found a new continent with death. Columbus didn’t land on mainland America either. And then you find evidence (quotes from his journal and an alteration to his family crest) that he knew perfectly well that he had discovered a new land mass, due to rivers too large for the land to be oceanic island as well as the local wealth being gold, not spice.”

So, yeah.

Just got this video in my email box: Reconsider Columbus Day.

@MissAnthrope me too :)

[Mod says:] Hey, guys.. Seeing that this is General, let’s try to get the this thread back on-topic. The question at hand is Will you be celebrating Columbus Day today?