In a shocking turn of attention to the monument crisis tearing this nation apart, Republican Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and James Lankford (R-OK) quietly introduced legislation last week to remove the national Christopher Columbus federal holiday. They undoubtedly bowed cowardly to the political pressures of the time. However, in doing so, they have done this country a great disservice and given rioters, vandals, and revisionist historians an undeserved moral victory.
As we’ve previously reported, numerous Columbus statues have been desecrated, decapitated, or completely torn down illegally and intentionally by vandals – everywhere from Baltimore, Maryland over the Fourth of July weekend to Richmond, Virginia, last month, and many other cities.
In Columbus, Ohio, Columbus isn’t even a saint anymore. More recently, Columbus Mayor Andrew Gunther, a Democrat announced that a significant statue of Columbus in front of City Hall will be removed – in a city that was named after Christopher Columbus! “Revoking” the Columbus statue, the mayor announced:
“For many people in our community, the monument represents patriarchy, oppression and division. This does not represent our great city and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past,” said Mayor Gunther. “Now is the right time to replace this monument with a work of art that demonstrates our ongoing fight to end racism and celebrate themes of diversity and inclusion.”
It seems that every year we celebrate Columbus Day, there is an unfortunate need to remind Americans why we celebrate Christopher Columbus in the first place. As our schools refuse to teach history with proper context and sufficient nuance, it is vital to remember why we honor Columbus the explorer and his great achievements.
Everyone knows the story of Columbus and his crew who set sail in 1492 in search of a western trade route to India and instead discovered the New World. They did it with Herculean courage, because many feared that they would sail away from the ends of the earth.
Between 1492 and 1502, Columbus sailed four times, helping to establish and document routes to the Americas and establishing lasting relationships between the world’s most influential continents in newfangled history. It was his discovery that emboldened explorers from Europe and around the world to seek novel life in a novel land.
Although he was not the first to discover America (Leif Erickson is credited with discovering North America in the 11th century), he ushered in a period of bold Western exploration, migration, international trade, and the spread of Christianity, which ultimately led to the greatest flourishing of creation democracy in human history.
Although Columbus Day has been celebrated unofficially in the United States since colonial times, it was not formally recognized as a national holiday until 1937, during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. It has since become not only an American patriotic holiday, but also celebrated by Italian Americans as a day of pride and heritage, since Columbus was of Italian descent.
It is also vital to note that Columbus Day is celebrated not only in America but around the world as an expression of human flourishing, exploration and patriotism. Many Latin American countries also celebrate it as “Die de la Raza” – “Race Day”, and in Spain as “Día de la Hispanidad”, and have erected numerous statues and monuments to commemorate Columbus and his spirit of exploration.
Around the time of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage in 1992, some historians began to implicate Columbus in a series of misfortunes that befell much of the Native American population. The historian primarily credited with Columbus’ fall from favor is Howard Zinn, author of the book A folk history of the United States.
Zinn was an avowed socialist, and his text became required reading in many high schools and colleges across the country. For any sane person who has read this book, it is an incomplete and overtly Marxist interpretation of American history that rarely, if ever, attempts to present a fair and balanced portrait of American history – especially in the case of Columbus, whom he attacks in the first chapter.
(Note: I highly encourage you to read Dr. Larry Schweikert’s powerful counter book – The history of the Patriot in the United States).
But even Columbus’ most ardent supporters would admit that his research had unintended consequences. It’s unthreatening to say that European migration to the Americas brought widespread disease, the slave trade, and mistreatment of natives, some at the hands of Columbus himself.
Without excusing any negative consequences of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, it is vital to remember that many vital historical figures are full of contradictions. Evaluating them now through a newfangled, “woke” social justice lens cannot fully understand the historical nuances, context, and way they have unfolded over time, and cannot invalidate his historical achievements, as I have detailed George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in my a recent article about Mt.
History must be taught, not destroyed. The “cancel culture” left is doing everything in their power to not only cancel Columbus, but to indoctrinate our students with this poison. Instead of debate and discussion in the classroom or in the legislature, vandals of openness, equity, diversity and inclusion won’t even allow debate. Instead, they employ force, intimidation, vandalism and fear to silence their dissent. This should never be rewarded.
Maybe we should just create Leif Erikson Day and celebrate the real person who discovered America. But then again, he was white and a Viking. I’m not sure the politically correct crowd would like it either.
Christopher N. Malagisi lives in Washington, D.C. and is currently the Executive Director of Outreach at Hillsdale College | Washington, DC Campus, but expresses these views on his own behalf. He previously served as director of CPAC and director of external relations for the American Conservative Union and as editor-in-chief of the Conservative Book Club at Salem Media.
