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I'm not trying to debate the kind of person he was. I just don't think it's necessary to get rid of a day off for a lot of people.
If even 1% of the population of today had on one hundredths of the guts and vision that man had, I'm sure this would be a much better world.
This is taking political correctness beyond the boundaries of sanity.
Can't even imagine how you take a scale, put political correctness on one side and genocide on the other and decide that genocide is better.
I don't give a wet slap about Columbus Day, but the man was either an idiot or an asshole, and probably both.
He was a man of his time. Not a monster or an idiot. Every European did the things Columbus is accused of, especially the Spanish and Portuguese. Ever hear of the Inquisition, and that was to each other, not some indigenous heathen tribe believed to be sub-human in those days.
Should we vilify Leif Erikson or Sir Francis Drake, too?
Come on, you can't put modern morals on those who lived in a different culture and time. That truly is insanity.
Okay, you convinced me, when should we have Inquisition Day? Or Viking Conquest Day?
Come on, you can't celebrate the cruelties of antiquity with modern morals, that's sending the message that we approve of those actions. Americans can get an extra holiday if you want to institute Trail of Tears Day.
FWIW, you can have your own view on this and I don't give a wet slap either way, I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing. And I think your view is kooky.
But why can't we celebrate Columbus Day for his achievements? It was an amazing undertaking in his time, to go against all accepted belief and set sail across an ocean in a boat not much larger than mine and a hell of a lot less of a capable sailing vessel.
That is what we should be honoring, not denigrating a man for his humanity according to the customs of his time.
I suppose I'm confused because I can't recall what he was supposed to have achieved.
No one seriously believed the Earth was flat and he'd fall off the edge. Yes, I'm aware that even now some people cling to the flat Earth theory but we know it's not true, just as Columbus knew.
He didn't discover North America. He never landed on it in 4 trips.
He didn't find a shorter route to Asia.
He was a brutal governor over the indigenous people he committed atrocities against, so I guess we could celebrate that.
I know many school children are taught all sorts of myths and untruths about history, but I thought that it was common knowledge at this point that Columbus was a dick and having a holiday to celebrate a dick is in rather bad taste, IMO. But hey, if you get a day off for him maybe you could find an American Indian to abuse in his honor.
Why not just keep the hollyday and name it something different? That's been going on since the beginning of time.