“Columbus Day was declared a national holiday by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (declared 1934 B.H.)  Since 1971, Columbus Day has been observed annually as a federal government holiday on the second Monday of October” (Columbus Day 2023: History, Traditions, and Changes, farmersalmanac.com).

Since the early 1990’s there has been growing resentment of this holiday.  Some wish to change it to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  Several states now recognize this day, including Texas (Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signs Indigenous People’s Day and Indigenous People’s Week Resolution, ictnews.org).  Why the opposition to Columbus Day? 

(1) It is pointed out that Columbus was not the first to discover the New World.  He was not even the first European to do so.  Columbus landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492.  A Viking named Gunnbjorn Ulfsson sailed near Greenland in the 10^th century.  Eric the Red colonized Greenland about 980.  His son, Leif Erikson reached Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada) by about 1000 A.D..  This is almost 500 years before Columbus.  Moreover, some are not sure that these were the first Europeans.  There are legends of earlier visitors form Ireland and Wales (early exploration of the Americas, kids.britannica.com).  There is also a theory that Admiral Zheng He of China reached America over 70 years before Columbus.  However, this is greatly disputed (Who Discovered America? Zheng Who? By Joseph Kahn, January 17, 2006, nytimes.com).      

(2)  Columbus, and those who followed him, brought many evils to the people already living in the New World.  (a) Some of these were unintentional.  CNN says, “In 1492, there were an estimated 250,000 indigenous people in Hispaniola, but by 1517, only 14,000 remained, according to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.  Some historians believe that the impact of European and African settlers in the New World possibly killed as much as 90% of the native population” (Why Christopher Columbus Wasn’t The Hero We Learned About In School by Alicia Lee, cnn.com).  (b) Some were intentional.  “Columbus and his men enslaved many of these native people and treated them with extreme violence and brutality, according to history.com. Throughout his years in the Americas, Columbus forced natives to work for the sake of profits.  Later, he sent thousands of Taino ‘Indians’ to Spain to be sold, and many of them died during the journey.  The natives who weren’t forced to look for gold in mines and work on plantations” (cnn.com). 

Those who defend the observance of Columbus Day argue: (1) While Columbus was not the first to discover America, he was the first to truly open up the New World to the Old World.  His discovery changed the world.  (2) While it is true that Columbus was not without his sins, who is?  John Hirschauer asks, “‘Indigenous People’s Day’: Which ‘Indigenous People’ do you have in mind?  Is it the Kalinago people, who ate roasted human flesh, with particular infinity for the remains of babies and fetuses?  Is it the Aztecs, who killed an estimated 84,000 people in four days in the consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan?  Be specific, please” (A Defense of Christopher Columbus by John Hirschauer, October 14, 2019, nationalreview.com).  (3) It is not his sins that we celebrate, but his courageous exploration. (4) “The purpose of Columbus Day was to encourage Americans to be more accepting of immigrants – specifically Italian immigrants. The Italian explorer …was the symbol of the holiday, not the focus” (PragerU video: Why Immigrants Should Love Columbus Day by Alana Mastrangelo, prageru.com).

Thoughts

I do not really care if we continue to observe Columbus Day, do away with it, or change it to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  It is not important to me.

However, there are some thoughts that I want you to consider.  Must one be without fault to be remembered or honored with a national holiday, a monument, or a name on a building? 

If so, then let us never do so again.  Every man and woman who has ever lived (with but one exception) has sinned (Romans 3:23).  This is true of George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and anyone else one may want to mention.  Granted, some men’s faults are more obvious and egregious than those of others. 

Humanity has a sin problem.  Thank God that there is remedy!  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).  “Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).