Columbus Day was once a day meant to commemorate Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. In more recent years, however, Columbus Day is becoming less and less popular as more people uncover the potential truth about him. Some people think he is a hoax.
Christopher Columbus may have arrived in America in the year 1492, but many believe he was not the original discoverer of the land. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, Columbus was not the first to discover North America. Rather, he discovered many populated places outside of what we now call America before discovering the Indigenous people and decimating their population.
These days, Columbus Day is slowly getting replaced by Indigenous People’s Day, a holiday which brings attention to European’s enslavement of Native Americans.
As of today, 14 states that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. New York is not one of them. The annual Columbus Day Parade returned to New York City after having been cancelled last year due to COVID.
Erika Lin, a freshman at WJPS, said, “I agree with Indigenous People’s Day, and I think Native Americans deserve this day.”
Trinity Andujar, a WJPS senior, said, “As an Italian, I honestly hate Christopher Columbus, and I hate that people associate Italian heritage with Christopher Columbus. I believe October 11th should be considered Indigenous People’s Day and Italian Heritage Day.”
“Happy Columbus Day, America!” by oriana.italy is marked with CC PDM 1.0
