It’s time to celebrate Columbus Day. The real question is: Should we?
I am broken-hearted, as I’m sure you are too, about the shootings in Las Vegas. We don’t want to think about Christopher Columbus now. And yet, maybe this is the perfect time – while we are still heartsick, before time fades our memories of screams, glass shards and drops of blood, while the tragic loss of human life is still fresh.
Violence is a thread woven into the tapestry of America.
The truth is: It started in 1492.
Within 10 years, I predict, we will toss Columbus Day onto the trash heap of shame. Why? Simple. It’s a holiday that honors a mass murderer.
Can we really liken Christopher Columbus to the madman in Vegas? Yes. The parallels are surprising. The difference is mainly one of scale: The innocent victims in Las Vegas tally in the hundreds; Columbus’ body count reached into the millions.
I say this with the greatest respect for those who lost friends and family in Las Vegas. My desire is to honor their fallen loved ones. Consider this: We don’t celebrate Adolf Hitler day. And we don’t celebrate a national holiday to honor the Las Vegas shooter. We never will. So why do we celebrate a holiday to honor Christopher Columbus? A man who committed murder and atrocities on a truly epic scale.
When Columbus set foot on that sandy beach in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, he ushered in the darkest age of American history. If I were a Native American, I would mark it as a black day on my calendar.
If you want to know the truth about Christopher Columbus and discover why people are so angry, I invite you to read my 2010 Huff Post blog. It exposed the shocking truth about Christopher Columbus and his role in the torture and murder of Native Americans on a massive scale, and how he sold 9-year-old girls into sexual slavery…
Here’s the link: Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery
To my surprise, my blog ignited a firestorm of controversy. It racked up 625 comments in a few hours, proof that I struck a raw nerve. It has chalked up 250,000 Facebook “Likes” so far (and still counting). More than 600 websites in 100 countries borrowed my Columbus Day article and gave credit by linking back to my original Huff Post blog. It sparked a grassroots movement fueled by outrage.
For 80 years, nobody gave a damn about Columbus Day. In fact, before I wrote my blog in 2010 in the Huffington Post, every major city in the US celebrated Columbus Day. It was a paid holiday in 32 states.
Suddenly, angry activists elbowed their way into city council meetings.
One by one, an astonishing array of major US cities tossed Columbus day onto the trash heap of shame: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Albuquerque, and even whole states: Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, Oregon (South Dakota, in 1990, was the first state that elected not to observe Columbus Day). In Baltimore, an enraged activist smashed the oldest Columbus statue in America and posted his video on YouTube.
The raging battle to end Columbus Day is even a part of our pop culture. South Park spoofed the fight to end Columbus Day and the recent attacks on statues of Christopher Columbus in its current episode. (The episode before this one was North Korea, so Columbus Day now ranks up with the End of the World.)
Check out this laugh-out-loud South Park episode about Columbus Day…
Here’s the link: South Park's new episode - Christopher Columbus
This is a unique moment in time - as rare as Halley’s comet. We’re watching history unfold. Americans are flushing a national holiday down the toilet.
What is the moral of the story?
A lie cannot live forever.
After South Park’s zany parody, fingers are racing across keyboards typing Christopher Columbus into Google. People are curious. Everyone‘s asking: What sparked this controversy, who are the major players, what issues are at stake?
At last, we are asking the question: Why do we honor a man who, if he were alive today, would almost certainly be sitting on Death Row awaiting execution?
Let’s face the facts: We were all lied to as school kids. Now we know the truth. To end Columbus Day, we’ll have to lobby for this noble cause... one city at a time. Ask your city council to put it to a vote. Let’s invite everybody to join in the debate. Italian-Americans are wringing their hands in anguish over losing their hero. Native Americans are rising up and demanding justice. Teachers are making a vow that they will no longer teach the lie about Christopher Columbus to school kids. Americans - who claim neither Italian-American nor Native American heritage - are joining the cause. This is a movement of ordinary citizens who are stepping into their greatness... and becoming activists.
Only the end of Columbus Day as a national holiday will truly do justice to Columbus’ shameful legacy.
I agree with Native Americans. Let’s replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. It would right a historical wrong.
I hope you’ll get behind this idea and help us make it a reality. Once we do that, we will redefine the ideal that America stands for. Most importantly, we’ll be taking the first step toward creating a more sane and peaceful world.
.