Columbus Day
There is no class today or tomorrow because of “Fall Break” here at UNC Charlotte. This coincides with Columbus Day, though I do not know if that coincidence is coincidental, so to speak, or not. I’ve worked all day and have been very productive, so the day off has been great.
At the same time, I much prefer thinking I got the time off to celebrate autumn rather than Columbus. When you really get down to it, there isn’t much to applaud. He had no idea where he was going, misnamed the people he found, happily brought some back as slaves, and was usually vicious when in charge of others. As is quite obvious, he didn’t discover anything. Check out Charles Mann’s book 1491 for an analysis of how complex native civilizations were.
This is one of those holidays that should be phased out or just renamed.
4 comments:
I agree. I think this is a ridculous holiday, although I'm not complaining that I get a nice day off to be more or less lazy. I would also recommend Howard Zinn's book, "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present". One of the best history books I have ever read on Columbus or American history.
M.Sharpe
I haven't read it, though I've heard of it. His work is obviously a response to conventional wisdom--these days, I wonder how Columbus is presented in, say, school textbooks. I think, in fact, you would have to willfully ignore a tremendous amount of information to present him in an entirely positive light.
I think it should our greatest holiday! Without Columbus we would never have been discovered. And where would we be now?
And, we are no different, "no idea where he was going, misnamed the people he found, happily brought some back as slaves, and was usually vicious when in charge of others."
So three cheers for murder and enslavement!
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