In 2014 zijn actievoerders in de Verenigde Staten op de website van het Witte Huis een petitie gestart waarin ze president Obama vragen de naam 'Columbus Day' te veranderen in 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'.

'Columbus Day' is sinds 1937 een nationale feestdag voor alle Amerikanen.

Opdracht

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Beredeneer in maximaal 300 woorden of je het een goed of slecht idee vindt om de naam 'Dag van Columbus' te veranderen in 'Dag van de inheemse volkeren'. Besteed in je betoog zowel aandacht aan de redenen om de naam wel en niet te veranderen en maak tenslotte een afweging.

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Columbus Day was made a federal holiday in 1937, when Native American nations and communities had little voice to protest the celebration of the onset of colonization and genocide in the Western Hemisphere In the era of global decolonization, Native Americans remained colonized. Columbus Day is a painful symbol of that traumatic past. It’s time for the US government to acknowledge its colonial past and make a commitment to decolonization. Doing away with the celebration of Columbus, the very face of European colonialism, could be that gesture. In its place, proclaim that fateful date of the onset of colonialism as a Day of Solidarity and Mourning with the Indigenous Peoples.

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We now know the true story of the adventures of Columbus. Columbus never even stepped foot on American soil. Instead, this Spaniard is a symbol of the violent conquest of the indigenous populations of Hispaniola, now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His crew brutalized, infected, and murdered the native populations in their search for gold. As if their murderous lust for gold was not bad enough, Columbus took some of the natives back to Spain to present them as proof to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. After the natives served his purpose, they were sold into slavery which effectively makes Columbus the first recorded European trans-Atlantic slave trader.

Columbus Day is in less than two weeks. With that in mind, please consider supporting the change of Columbus Day to Thomas Paine Day or another figure of appropriate moral character. Giving Columbus a day, while at the same time giving Martin Luther King an equivalent amount of honor, is invariably insulting to MLK. These two men are not on the same level with regard to moral character or historical significance.

I believe many others who have learned the true history of Spanish colonialism feel the same way which is why I present to you this petition.

It is time to clean this dirt from our faces. We should never forget these atrocities that took place; but, to honor murderous selfish thieves is just wrong.

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Christopher Columbus and his voyages altered the world forever. He himself was a man of boldness and unique daring. Arguing that others did the same thing is simply not true, for he sailed across the Atlantic in a 70 foot boat and he returned and told everyone. His was a true discovery from the point of view of the Old World and it undeniably changed the course of history. Columbus himself was a man of faith who believed in the spreading the Holy Gospel, and given the amount of the New World that now is Catholic, I would say he was successful. He was also a man of his times and it would be wrong to judge him by our standards. Perfect he as not, great he undeniably is. The hate against Columbus is really a bit hard to understand given the undoubted significance of his voyages. As to Thomas Paine, though an undeniably eloquent advocate for the American Revolution, also was party to the French Revolution that begat the Reign of Terror. He was not directly responsible, however his godless view of government ("The Age of Reason") certainly helped usher in the bloodshed that followed as Robespierre and the boys began a vendetta against religion that included a ten day week to depart from the Genesis 7 day week that, not coincidentally, is the only one that works. I strenuously object to this petition! Columbus changed the world, Paine does not come close.