Free Republic

Bashing Christopher Columbus has long been de rigueur among the liberal elite. Today, it has infiltrated our nation’s classrooms and poisons our public discourse. You know the mantra: Columbus was a greedy and egomaniacal villain who brought slavery, disease, “genocide,” and ecological ruin to a previously undisturbed land. Rather than honor this legacy of “hate,” the argument goes, Americans should celebrate the peaceful indigenous peoples who populated this hemisphere long before their lands were stolen by European explorers. The war against Columbus is cloaked in the lexicon of “diversity” and the rhetoric of “inclusion.” But what many of its foot...

Is it time to say arrivederci to Christopher Columbus? A movement to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day has gained momentum in some parts of the U.S., with Los Angeles in August becoming the biggest city yet to decide to stop honoring the Italian explorer and instead recognize victims of colonialism. Austin, Texas, followed suit Thursday. It joined cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Denver, which had previously booted Columbus in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day. But the gesture to recognize indigenous people rather than the man who opened the Americas to European domination also has...

After much debate, both the Los Angeles City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors recently voted to replace the Columbus Day holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day, beginning no later than 2019. Although to many this change will seem long overdue, others wonder why our elected officials have ventured into this political thicket.

A descendant of Christopher Columbus penned an op-ed published Monday defending Columbus's legacy. In the op-ed published in USA Today — titled "Hey America, my ancestor didn't cause your failings" — Christopher Columbus XX wrote that history has some "truly evil people," but his ancestor is "not one of them." "Most often, history is not made up of perfect people and evil ones, but of complex people who must be understood in context," he wrote. "What is happening at the hands of Columbus’ detractors is political, not historical. As his direct descendant and namesake, I should know." "What is happening...

Is this the last time we can celebrate Columbus Day?A wave of cities have decided to remove the holiday from the calendar and replace it with “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer credited with discovering America, and his legacy are under attack figuratively and, increasingly, literally.Several Columbus monuments have been attacked and vandalized around the country. The towering Columbus statue at Columbus Circle in New York City now needs 24-hour guards after Mayor Bill de Blasio put it on the list of a commission to review “offensive” memorials.And according to Far Left Watch, a watchdog organization, Antifa and other left-wing...

Never mind the disease and slavery wrought by Christopher Columbus' voyage -- or the fact that he didn't actually "discover" the New World. President Donald Trump's first presidential proclamation of Columbus Day gave only high praise to the 15th century explorer, a stark contrast to the proclamation made by President Barack Obama one year earlier. "The permanent arrival of Europeans to the Americas was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally changed the course of human history and set the stage for the development of our great Nation," Trump said in his proclamation. "Therefore, on Columbus Day, we honor the...

Violent left-wing anarchists have announced a nationwide campaign to deface Christopher Columbus statues this coming Monday. Five Christopher Columbus statues have already been vandalized in New York City in recent weeks, according to Far Left Watch. In one case last month, vandals defaced a "larger-than-life" statue of Columbus in Central Park, leaving blood-red paint on his hands, and scrawled, "Hate will not be tolerated" and “#SomethingsComing” on its pedestal. What is coming appears to be a coordinated campaign to destroy monuments all across the country on Columbus Day. The NYC-based antifa group Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) made the announcement on...

There is a move afoot to cast Christopher Columbus as an evil person instead of the person celebrated as the first to traverse the Atlantic Ocean, discovering there were two major continents not previously known to the world as it existed in 1492. In another feel-good moment, some cities are renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day. American Indians are desperate for real help, not placating moments. Naomi Schaefer Riley has defined how bad things are for American Indians and how Washington, D.C., bureaucracy is destroying the lives of these Americans in her terrific and terrifying book "The New Trail...

Austin will no longer officially recognize Columbus Day after Austin City Council voted Thursday to replace the holiday with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.Although Thursday’s vote will have no direct effect on the federal holiday—which celebrates Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’s arrival to the lands of the western hemisphere every second Monday of October—Austin city calendars will now read “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”The change drew much debate amongst council members, some of who felt the holiday should simultaneously celebrate Christopher Columbus and the indigenous people of America. However, after a few amendments proposing synonymity failed, the resolution to replace the holiday passed 9-1-1,...

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release October 06, 2017 President Donald J. Trump Proclaims October 9, 2017, as Columbus Day COLUMBUS DAY, 2017 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Five hundred and twenty-five years ago, Christopher Columbus completed an ambitious and daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The voyage was a remarkable and then-unparalleled feat that helped launch the age of exploration and discovery. The permanent arrival of Europeans to the Americas was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally...

Although 57 percent of Americans believe in celebrating Columbus Day, the late explorer Christopher Columbus is in the crosshairs of liberals again, more than 511 years after he died. Among those targeting the late, great Italian navigator are Antifa and left-wing intellectuals, as well as the liberal governments of several U.S. cities who no longer acknowledge Columbus on his holiday, which is this coming Monday. The violent partisans at Antifa have named Monday "Deface Columbus Day," hoping to see acts of vandalism against Columbus statues. The famed Italian explorer stirs leftist passions primarily because of traditional hatred of Western culture....

Following multiple acts of vandalism on Christopher Columbus statues since August, a militant antifa group has announced “Deface Columbus Day” on Oct. 9 as a coordinated campaign to deface and destroy more historical monuments. In Yonkers, New York, a Columbus statue was beheaded on Aug. 30. Antifa vandals were also responsible for the destruction of the oldest Christopher Columbus monument in the nation on Aug. 21. Vandals left the messages “Racism: Tear it down” and “The future is racial and economic justice.”

Los Angeles has joined Seattle, Portland, and many other cities in replacing the annual Columbus day celebration with Native American Day. But that won’t happen in Philadelphia if the Italian-American community has anything to say about it. “We need to learn from history, not take down history,” said Marco Circelli, Executive Director of the Filitalia Museum on Passyunk Avenue. He tells visitors the story of Christopher Columbus and other Italian explorers who paved a path to the new world. But in recent years, more than two dozen U.S. cities have decided to turn their backs on Columbus, and instead celebrate...

The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 on Wednesday to officially mark the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day on the city’s calendar — a day to commemorate “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.” The day will remain a paid holiday for city employees, the Los Angeles Times reported. The vote followed a contentious hearing, during which some Italian-Americans said the switch would eradicate a key portion of their history, while others argued that city lawmakers needed to “dismantle a state-sponsored celebration of genocide indigenous peoples” and dismissed the idea of celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day on a different date...

The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to replace the Columbus Day holiday in October with Indigenous Peoples Day... Supporters of the plan argued that Christopher Columbus' connection to brutality and slavery makes him no longer worthy of celebration...

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino has long been effusive about his Italian heritage, bringing opera singers to City Hall and posting YouTube videos about his family’s tomato sauce and his parents’ move from Sicily. Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, a member of the Wyandotte Nation, is equally passionate about his Native American roots. When he took office four years ago, he was sworn in by his tribe’s chief, who performed a traditional blessing at the event.

OBERLIN, Ohio - In a unanimous vote Monday night, Oberlin City Council voted to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day. "Columbus Day is a touchy subject for some folks. However, the history of Columbus Day speaks for itself," said a supporter. Residents packed council chambers as the second Monday in October was forever changed in the city of Oberlin. Not everyone was in favor of the resolution, saying Columbus Day is about more than just a man, it’s about culture. "Columbus Day is a day of Italian American pride. And I am really disheartened at the...

Monday, October 10, 2016 The End of Columbus Day is the End of America Posted by Daniel Greenfield Columbus may have outfoxed the Spanish court and his rivals, but he is falling victim to the court of political correctness. The explorer who discovered America has become controversial because the very idea of America has become controversial. There are counter-historical claims put forward by Muslim and Chinese scholars claiming that they discovered America first. And there are mobs of fake indigenous activists on every campus to whom the old Italian is as much of a villain as the bearded Uncle Sam....

The state of Vermont and the cities of Denver and Phoenix joined the growing list of places celebrating Native Americans on the federal holiday named for Christopher Columbus. Since Columbus Day 2015, at least 14 communities in the United States have passed measures designating the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day.

Vermont ditches Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples' Day http://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-ditches-columbus-day-for-indigenous-peoples-day/5068016 Vermont ditches Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples' Day Governor signs proclamation changing traditional holiday Updated: 7:40 PM EDT Oct 7, 2016 Brad Evans Digital Media Manager HARTFORD, Vt. — Vermont has officially changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day. Gov. Peter Shumlin signed an executive proclamation Thursday, making the change. Under the decree, Shumlin said a growing number of cities in towns in the United States have recognized the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day. The day is "an opportunity to celebrate indigenous heritage and resiliency," the proclamation stated....