As the rest of the nation celebrates Columbus Day on Monday, the faculty and students of Brown University will instead celebrate a new academic holiday called “Fall Weekend.” Last year the Brown faculty voted to change the name because agroup of Brown students protested the observance of Columbus Day citing his mistreatment of Native Americans.
These 21st century students of comfort and professors of privilege who are affiliated with a university founded on the slave trade claim that because Columbus conquered and caused the Native Americans to contract disease, he is not worthy of a civic holiday. Their perspective of history neglects to include that Columbus’s discovery eventually lead to the establishment of the most powerful and wealthiest nation on earth which now provides them the very freedom to nonsensically attack a civic holiday steeped in history.
Known as 'the man who discovered America,’ Columbus was in search of a westward sea passage to the Orient when he landed in the New World in 1492. This unintentional discovery was to change the course of world history. The first recorded celebration honoring the discovery of America by Europeans took place on October 12, 1792 in New York City. The event, which celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World, was organized by The Society of St. Tammany. San Francisco's Italian community held their first Columbus Day celebration in 1869. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison urged citizens to participate in the 400th anniversary celebration of
Columbus' first voyage. Colorado was the first state to observe the holiday in 1905. In 1937, President Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 as "Columbus Day" and in 1971, President Nixon declared the second Monday of October a national holiday. Of course such history is offensive to the many privileged professors and students who populate the campus of Brown and therefore, they will now celebrate a season rather than the man who discovered their nation.
In their misguided elimination of Columbus Day from the Brown calendar, the faculty of that Ivy League institution arrogantly dismisses its significance in our American history. We as a nation would not exist without the contributions to navigation and exploration by Christopher Columbus as he set out to discover “The New World.” Whatever his motivations to discover “The New World” and despite some of his damaging actions in conquering the natives, Columbus’ achievements merit a day to celebrate as a nation what he represents to us as Americans. For it marks the beginning of the history of America and the discovery of “the land of the free and home of the brave.” Christopher Columbus should be remembered with a special day and it should be celebrated as an occasion of great pride and patriotism. His legacy for our nation must not be hijacked by narrow-minded professors who arrogantly dismiss him with their selective revision of history and elitist politically correct agenda. Rather we urge everyone on the second Monday of October to truly celebrate the legacy of Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer whose arduous and grueling journey of discovery led to the birth of our nation’s history.
Happy Columbus Day!
