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Not to be political, but we should be responsible citizens and look at the flip side:

"Monday is known as Columbus Day, which is supposed to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the so-called "new world" in 1492. But the holiday has long caused anger amongst people of color, especially Native Americans, who object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade." Source: democracynow.org

Not many employers actually give this day off anymore, except the government. An alternate name proposed has been Indigenous Peoples Day.

Since Italian-Americans have always sort of claimed this as a sort of Italian Pride day, and being Italian American and relatively liberal-minded, I have always said that this day is to celebrate the bringing of tomatoes to the Old World which allowed the creation of pizza and pasta...of course, this all sounds much nicer (albeit overlooking the obvious obliteration of the existing American cultures...)

Oh, and today, on the way to work, it was a virtual ghost town. I felt a certain solidarity with the few people on the metro with me...

AT just posted a description of the day not whether it should be a holiday. Why judge ("responsible citizens")?

I'm with yuzu. And I miss having Columbus Day off (I went to school in D.C. where we received every single federal holiday off).

And since very few holidays are still celebrated in the spirit with which they were created (e.g. Christmas, MLK, President's Day, Labor Day, etc.), people getting up in arms about this day seems a little much.

nah, i think it is appropriate to get up in arms over this day. especially for those of us with native and hispanic blood (I'm part Mexican and part Onondagan - of the Iroquois). Today is not that far a stretch from something like a 'Pol Pot' day to me. i'm eternally grateful to have been born in such a wealthy country and to have been given the opportunities and blessings i've had just by dint of being born here. but to 'celebrate' christopher columbus? no way!

I feel comfortable saying that I'm a pretty liberal person. I tend to think outside of the box when it comes to most things. I also like a good challenge every now and then. I don't really know where this is going....

However, I would like to say that I'll bet if someone went through the archives and looked at the comments under every holiday post there would be several responses challenging the existence of the holiday.

I feel sad for this country in a lot of ways. War, economy, popular music (which I'm convinced is produced solely for the purpose of becoming a ringtone), kids dropping out of school. The list goes on and on.

I guess, from a pessimist's point of view, it makes sense to rename holidays, get rid of holidays for fear of offending people, change the dollar bill.

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, In God We Trust. I believe most Americans see these things as nothing more than traditions and time off from work or school. What kind of thought is really put into some of these traditions and who is using these traditions to their advantage to disenfranchise other people?

I would like to see us not eliminate our traditions but to add more holidays and traditions commemorating heroes and events that may have been overlooked throughout our history. That way we are building upon what we have rather than re-writing or erasing our history and traditions.

Honoring Columbus is fairly offensive to me. I don't think he deserves a day.

Oh, and without certain days like Columbus day the "opposition's" voice would probably not be heard.

Columbus...the very embodiment of mass murder. The fact that we celebrate this man annually speaks volumes about what is wrong with our country.

Isn't it possible to commemorate a moment in history with necessarily *celebrating* it?

Sheez.

I agree with p(too). Come on... who is actually going out to "celebrate" Columbus??

The day has his name on it, but Italian Americans have turned it into a pride day. School children learn about the horrible things he did (I know I didl!) to the indigenous people. It's far too easy to say it's just a bad holiday.

Historically, Columbus Day was an Italian pride day from the git-go. That's why it exists, and you may well ask why Columbus Day is a federal holiday but St. Patrick's Day is not.

Back in the late 19th century, Columbus Day actually was celebrated. NYC's parade was comparable to the St. Patrick's Day parade today, and smaller towns up in Connecticut would re-enact Columbus' landing, complete with singing and dancing priests and natives, as well as much uplifting oratory.

A day without postal service (the stock markets were open, so it ain't a holiday in my book) and a couple sales at the mall aren't a celebration -- they're the last stop on the way to cultural irrelevance.

I should have said commemorate, rather than celebrate.

It's just that the emphasis is always on his (accidental) "discovery" of the Americas. It's Euro-centric and skewed. His legacy is one of violence and murder, while what happened to the native peoples is glossed over. Why do we honor a slave trader with a national holiday, parades, and statues? Why is "Columbus Day" a national holiday, but not election day? Etc.

Also to address- "It's far too easy to say it's just a bad holiday?"

It's not dismissal for dismissal's sake, as you see.

I guess Columbus Day is a product of the '70s. I can think of a lot of products of that era that didn't really get as much thought as they should have.

But, here we all are, drawn to a site about our homes and furnishings. Why isn't enough to keep us fulfilled? Some people fight and fight but it's hard to be an American sometimes, so much hypocrisy.

The 54th annual American Indian Center pow wow, the largest urban pow wow in the country will be in Chicago in November http://www.aic-chicago.org/. I couldn't even begin to comprehend the challenges of being an "urban Indian." These are real people--Columbus is dead.

If you knew just how silly Americans sound when they pretend their heritage is just one long history of genocide.

You guys, please compare with other countries and areas. See Europe, to take the closest example, every single bit of it overrun by bands of caucasians, Romans, Huns, barbarians of all shapes and sizes, Arabs, Ottomans, each other (French, English German Spanish etc.) and all the rape and pillage which went with it until the poor original native peoples of Europe (who were they, anyway?) were exterminated a hundred times over... Now go to Africa (and please don't just consider the ravages of colonialism but take into account what happened before and after), Asia (same caveat) and so on and so forth.

But, by all means, be offended by a holiday dedicated to Christopher Columbus whose discovery ended up providing opportunity to the downtrodden masses of the world.

Sofia: What you say is true. That being said, what you described is still not honorable.

Cheers, Sean.

True, but you guys have the best heritage available out there, and somehow engage in the most breast beating. This self-indulgence has led to the rest of the world somehow considering that America is the worst country of them all where genocides and human rights abuses are concerned, both in the past and in the present, just the opposite in my point of view.

But if you feel more confortable feeling ashamed, be my guests.

Columbus was a mass murderer? I suppose Edison is responsible for electric chair executions?

My point was that not all holidays are about parades and joy.

But does that mean a true moment in history should pass unacknowledged because the heroism and actions of the person being commemorated have been clouded with the passage of time and a modern context?

I think not.

jon b, pick up a book, Columbus and his men did commit murder, the fact that this is still an issue that needs to be debated on this site says a lot about you Americans. These holidays don't come from nowhere, they represent what your society values, is willing to honour, celebrate and ignore. Quite disturbing, really.