Columbus Day Is A Sham

Ten minutes ago I was en route to the bank. I walked up to the doors with the intention of depositing a check, but found them locked. What? Oh yeah, it’s Columbus Day. Using the ATM instead, two more people in a matter of five minutes did the exact same thing, both of whom failed to make the connection.

“Columbus Day,” I spouted. “Oh. Ha…” the response.

There are currently 10 Federal holidays per year in the United States of America. For those who don’t feel like checking the above link, I’ll spell them out in order: New Year’s, MLK, Washington’s Bday, Memorial, Independence, Labor, Columbus, Veterans, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of the 10, our salute to the Italian born explorer is undoubtedly the most absurd and least appreciated, and for good reason.

Essentially, we reserve a pseudo national day of recognition for a man that “discovered” our continent by accident. His 1492 landing paved the way for Europe to colonize the New World. Columbus’ find, accidental as it may have been, is indeed significant and deserving of an important mark. But historical reality also knows full well that the process of imperialism and colonization which then unfolded throughout the Americas was extensively brutal and tragic, and in the case of our own country, represents the root of a slow moving genocide that virtually wiped out the indigenous peoples inhabiting what we call the United States.

In short, Christopher Columbus is indeed a significant figure in the scope of Western civilization as we know it, and, at a time when people were less educated, more than deserving of his sainthood and lofty appreciation. But this is the 21st century, and we now know that the heroic cape thrown upon Columbus and his legacy is tattered and full of holes.

So forget Columbus Day. He was who he was: ambitious, fortunate and [insert disparaging adjective here], leaving us directly linked. But Christopher Columbus was no hero, and sure as hell no saint.

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