The day that Native Americans fear shall arrive soon...

As I was writing a reminder for myself in my assignment notebook about something I must take care of in October, I came across a particular day that really made me question the... awesomeness (?) of it's naming. The day of which I speak of is October 13, Columbus Day.

This day is named after Christopher Columbus, the man who "discovered North America." After we learned in class about all of the terrible things he did to the Native Americans in order to claim this land, it is only natural that I wonder HOW could people name a day after this racist murderer and not question it. Ah yes, Columbus is famous for "discovering" the new world...despite the fact that the Native Americans had discovered it long before. Suddenly, it clicked to me!

People constantly ask why as children are we taught that Columbus was the discoverer of America , when he clearly was not. Why are the school systems, history books, and U.S. lying to us as children?!

BUT, they aren't lying!! They are simply showing bias in support towards the white colonists... A LOT of bias. Another connection I can make to our class now is the Howard Zinn reading that relates to this. Zinn said that people often present all the facts, but bury up the ones they view as unimportant towards the point of view they take. The U.S. has done the same with Columbus and his "discovering" America.

What I always learned was that Columbus came to this foreign land where natives lived. The natives are always described as not sophisticated enough to have the title of "discoverers." Therefore, I was always presented with all the facts (the Native Americans were here first) but certain facts were covered up with the ones that proved Columbus to be the "discoverer."

Therefore, I realized that I was never fully lied to, but the important facts were never emphasized. In terms of WHAT Columbus actually did to the peaceful, generous Native Americans...Now THAT is an entirely different story......grrr