Should we remove Columbus day?

[Greek_goddess_Iris]

It's has been proven years ago that Columbus was not the first to discover America. So why are we, America, still celebrating it?

[WindAtMyBack]

It should be removed but not for that reason. In a way Columbus DID discover the Americas. Obviously HE didn't know it was there, and neither did most (all?) of Europe. So for Europeans at the time, he did discover it.

I think it should be gotten rid of just because it's not a good holiday and federal holidays are extremely expensive. Very few people get the day off work. So they end up working to pay the government workers who do get the day off. I don't know how many people even realize it's Columbus Day. I know I rarely know.

But there is more to it than simply "discovering" the continents. It was the start of open sea navigation which completely opened up the whole world. It was a major event in history. It affected the whole world in major ways. For example New World crops spread to other parts of the world and caused a large increase in population.

[WonderingManII]

Google AI says:

Columbus Day is still celebrated because it has been an official federal holiday since 1937, but it is increasingly controversial due to the devastating impact of European colonization on Indigenous Peoples. The holiday continues to be a point of contention between those who see it as a celebration of Italian heritage and Italian-American contributions to the U. S., and those who believe it should be replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day to acknowledge the genocide, dispossession, and ongoing effects of colonialism on Native Americans.

[Lliam]

Columbus day was created so that Italian Americans would have a day to celebrate in the same way that the Irish have St. Patrick's Day.

But Columbus wasn't the first to discover the Americas and, on top of it, he was a monster.

I've been calling that day Native American Day for years.

I say keep the holiday but rename it Native American Day. Fuck Columbus.

[Anonymous]

The impact on indigenous peoples was exaggerated, largely because how large per-columbian populations were is exaggerated. Indigenous lifestyles cannot support large groups of people as is proven by the small size of uncontacted groups today. Overall indigenous people and Europeans both benefited from Columbus's voyage. As for the Scandinavians crossing the ocean first, the important thing to remember is that they never established large scale two way communication between the Americas and the rest of the world. Their voyage was long buried in history. The L'Anse aux Meadows settlement wasn't discovered until the 1960's. Humans had started exploring space before it was confirmed that the Vikings had explored Newfoundland.

[NaultD]

He never set foot in the proper mainland. He was used as a propaganda figure during the revolutionary war because he wasn't British.

[BarryLiverstone]

Columbus in a sense rediscovered America and its celebrated from a European historical prism. The major discovery allowed for trade between continents and expanded the known earths map which at the time didn’t include the American continents.

[exitseven]

No, Columbus Day celebrates the discovery of America and a great explorer. rewriting history does not change nything.

[Dargil]

Why do we even have Juneteenth and Labor Day? Should we also remove Memorial Day?

[beefcakebradybatson]

H**L to the NO!!! Columbus was a genocidal POS !!!

[In_Trance]

Do you want a day off or not?

[Agape93]

Fine by me.

[slatyb]

Yes, or rename it.

[DrPepper12]

Yes. Next question

[seeyounexttuesday]

Nope.