General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNever forget that we are the country that celebrates a day for
a man who was a sex slaver and child molester.
Columbus wrote to a friend in 1500: "A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand."
Columbus was also responsible for the genocide of the Taino people.
Eventually, Columbus and later his brother Bartholomew Columbus who he left in charge of the island, simply resorted to wiping out the Taino altogether. Prior to Columbus' arrival, some scholars place the population of Haiti/Hispaniola (now at 16 million) at around 1.5 to 3 million people. By 1496, it was down to 1.1 million, according to a census done by Bartholomew Columbus. By 1516, the indigenous population was 12,000, and according to Las Casas (who were there) by 1542 fewer than 200 natives were alive. By 1555, every single one was dead.
Yet, we still teach our children to celebrate this monster.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)NOT Columbus.
That's why there are Italian festivals and parades.
GeorgeGist
(25,320 posts)CLAIM
Christopher Columbus sold sex slaves some as young as nine years old.
RATING: TRUE
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/columbus-sex-slaves/
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)Today is Indigenous Peoples Day here in Minnesota. It is not a "happy" day, but a day of mourning for all those who died through the genocide brought here from Europe.
LAS14
(13,783 posts)moose65
(3,166 posts)I think Columbus Day should be changed into Election Day! Its on a Monday. Many people already have the day off - its a Federal holiday. We could actually have elections all weekend, ending with the Monday Election Day. Sometimes the weather in November is horrible on Election Day in the northeast and west.
lunamagica
(9,967 posts)Amishman
(5,556 posts)Matters as much as National Pancake Day, or National Coffee Day. Actually, the last one means more to me as I can at least get free coffee from Sheetz