Columbus Day is one of those kinda sorta American holidays. Some of us have to work. Some of us don't. There are no greeting cards to celebrate the day, no traditional foods or activities. In 1937, the president made it an official holiday but not everyone agrees. Hawaii celebrates it as Discoverer's Day, South Dakota and Oklahoma changed the name to Native American Day. And in 1992, Berkeley, California dubbed it Indigenous People's Day.
How did it ever get to be a holiday in the first place? My guess is one ultra influential Italian-American lobby that wouldn't stop til they got their October day.
Think about it. Columbus never set foot on American soil. While he might have dipped a tootsie or two in the Atlantic, the water was Bahamian, not Floridian. Yes, he came close but since when does close get you an entire holiday?
In elementary school we drew countless pictures of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. The significance of October 12th, 1492 was drilled into our malleable little heads. If the nun said it, it was gospel. Free thinking and question asking was frowned upon in my Catholic school.
Imagine -- if we were misled about Chris' voyage, what other false or misinformation is stored in our mental hard drives? More importantly, how can we delete it?
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