Back in my school days Columbus Day was recognized. The story was told by our teacher about the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, back in 1492 and the ocean blue, and how it related to us students personally.

Of late, Christopher's ratings have plummeted. In your opinion, do you think that is a good thing or a bad thing?

BTW, Sunday, Oct. 12 is the 511th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. Happy Columbus Day. Ssshhhhh....

 

Here in CA it's still a legal holiday but I wonder for how much longer.

I think we should be able to acknowledge his accomplishment without having to accept some of the ugliness that he precipitated. I think judging past deeds by todays morality often gets us into trouble.

 

sinjin, you have nailed that right on!!!! If one needs to judge, let it be by the standards of THAT day, not past, present, or future. Yup, it may be wrong, bad, illegal, etc. by today's moral or legal definitions, but if it wasn't at THE time, one should not pass judgement, especially on an individual. Society, maybe.......

Amen.

 

Columbus and people like him helped open america to the rest of the world.
This took alot of coruage back then. I hope he will continue to be reconized.

 

...The only reason we have a Columbus Day is because most of us cant spell Amerigo Vespucci...

 

And Ohio doesn't have the funds in their budget to change all the signs.

 

It's a joke for a holiday as far as I'm concerned. There were plenty of others who landed here before he "discovered America". He didn't even land on the future United States' soil. He and his followers were responsible for the death, rape, brutal slavery and total annihilation of ways of life from thousands & thousands of indiginous peoples from his point of landing thru the current western United States. And during that time those people were forced into Catholicism or die (which many did anyway.) I for one think he should have been sunk in the ocean on his first day out.

 

Daddywags,

We are his followers.

 

Come on-
Everybody knows that a Viking not a Spanish guy was the first non-indigenous explorer to discover America. The only difference being that like eveybody else down here he (Leif Eriksen) didn't stay.

 

My work used to honor Columbus Day but we traded the holiday to have the day after Thanksgiving off

 

I don't think that most people even recognize it personally.

I work for one of the public school districs in Phoenix, AZ and it wasn't until October 10th, that I new Monday was Columbus day (my boss told the crew we had the day off). Personally, I would have rather been working.

 

460lover - isn't Arizona the state that doesn't or didn't recognise MLK day?

 

Damn, you guys mean I missed yet another Holiday?? I could have had a paid day off. The injustice of it all,,, I'm writing to my "Progressive Politician" about this. There should be laws against this kind of neglect,,, Dono for Head Honcho!! He wouldn't have let this go by,,,

 

...Yep, It was voted down...then they changed the name and brought it back as..."Civil Rights Day"...then they changed it again as MLK day...
They way the media types act, if ya didnt know better a person would get the impression that MLK was the ONLY civil rights activist out there....

 

Hey, Daddywags, No Columbus did not kill nor was responsible of thousands of deaths.... The Spainish were... And yes, Columbus never set foot on American soil in all his voyages to the new world... IE. West Indies...