It’s a holiday again here in America cos we’re celebrating the Columbus day and we were told it was the day the American land was first discovered by Columbus! Well, outlined below are the truth and reasons why it should be a day of mourning…or at best, be celebrated for other reasons:
- Columbus was not the first man to set foot on American soil. The credit should go to some Vikings from the 11th century.
- Columbus was a messenger of destruction. After his unwelcome entry into the Bahamas- where his boat crashed into, he proceeded to invade the people living there. Taking away their farm produce, goods, then selling the people off as slaves!
- Columbus was also a messenger of death. During his conquest of the indigenous people, it is attributed that he was responsible for the death of about 55 million native North Americans, which equates to the loss of about 95% of the population!
- Columbus was also a messenger of diseases. He introduced a bunch of unknown diseases in North America. These illnesses which came with him and his crew also contributed to the death of the alleged 55 million people then.
- He also brought about the colonization of the indigenous people, which came with its economic drawbacks.
- Children in schools are wrongfully taught about the achievements of Columbus whereas, it should be the opposite.
- Movements have been made to change the infamous Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day, in order to commemorate the lives lost and damage to generations untold. It has already begun as some major organizations have implemented the idea. Suffolk University has the holiday as October Break, while Harvard University renamed it ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ in their academic calendar.
So while you’re chilling cos of the break, know better the reason behind it!
