Seattle changes Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day

[LiberalElite]

Source: WTHR.com

-snip-
SEATTLE: Columbus Day is history in Seattle. The City Council unanimously voted to change the name to Indigenous People's Day.

Not everyone was celebrating the decision.

A cultural divide played out at Seattle City Hall over a resolution to dump Columbus Day.

"Nobody discovered Seattle, Washington!" one speaker said to cheers.

But the battle pits Native Americans against Italian Americans, who say they're insulted.

"Italian Americans everywhere are intensely offended," said a protester.

The Native American protestors said they're not against Italians. They're against celebrating Christopher Columbus, whom many American school children were taught discovered America, but whose discovery led to the murder of millions of native people.
-snip-


Read more: http://www.wthr.com/story/26727893/2014/10/07/seattle-changes-columbus-day-to-indigenous-peoples-day

[IDemo]

1. Good for Seattle

Columbus Day seriously needs to go. It's the celebration of a bloodthirsty pedophile.

[mahannah]

2. Good for Seattle...especially for a city of that name.

[BlueJazz]

3. Good riddance. He was one nasty human being.

[yuiyoshida]

4. Awesome ...

maybe more states can take up this idea.. it probably won't happen but , hey why not.

[xocet]

5. Good on Seattle! Maybe they should add historical information about Columbus to their ugly statue..

of him or take it down:

[IDemo]

12. Suggested inscription:

Former President George W. Bush attempts riding a Segway scooter by propelling it with his foot.

[xocet]

25. LOL! n/t

[cemaphonic]

36. We can't take it down - we love our statue of monsters:

[xocet]

40. That is a very interesting set of statues. Did a city planner have some theme in mind or did this

collection occur by happenstance?

[bikebloke]

41. Don't know about the troll.

Lenin was bought by a local artist, who died. I think it was then donated or loaned to the city.

[xocet]

45. Thanks for the information. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

6. Christopher Colombus discoved someone else's country. n/t

[SoapBox]

18. That says it all right there!

Defend that, Italian Americans.

[True Blue Door]

33. The fact that he was an evil, mass-murdering turd doesn't change

the fact that his voyages brought awareness of two new continents to European civilizations. That's not nothing.

But his name should obviously not be the label by which that event is celebrated.

[candelista]

42. Is it still "someone else's country"?

Then what are you doing there?

[IDemo]

10. Aboriginal Day n/t

[True Blue Door]

34. But that's just reactionary.

Rename the day for the themes that were originally intended (celebrating exploration), just not with Columbus's name involved.

[Drahthaardogs]

44. The day was made into a national holiday

To celebrate italians who immigrated to america. People do not realize italians were not considered white and were even lynched.

[True Blue Door]

46. Ah. Okay then - make it Italian-American Day or something.

[Drahthaardogs]

47. That would be acceptable to most Italian Americans

I think

[alterfurz]

8. "Let's celebrate Columbus Day by walking into someone's house...

...and telling them we live there now."

[littlemissmartypants]

17. Great graphic. nt

[rhett o rick]

9. I would like to hear from some Italian Americans about this. If we had a Mussolini Day

and decided to change it to something else, I don't think the Italians would object. While Columbus did some remarkable things, he also did some things that are horrible and I can understand how people could be offended that we celebrate him and we don't celebrate the wonderful natives of the Americas.

[Comrade Grumpy]

11. Christopher Columbus changed the world forever...for better and worse.

[oldandhappy]

13. great idea

Good job, Seattle. Like it.

[Enthusiast]

14. Excellent idea.

[npk]

15. Just rolls right off the tounge...

[ZombieHorde]

27. I literally laughed out loud.

So funny.

[TheVisitor]

16. Oh my gosh...

This makes me love Seattle even more!

[AverageJoe90]

19. It's a noble gesture on their part, IMO.

Although, TBH, I very seriously doubt there are THAT many Italian-Americans who were actually offended by that, contrary to that one person's protestations.

[alp227]

21. Must be a myth because of that Sopranos episode.

[JRLeft]

20. Columbus was an awful person.

[Nye Bevan]

23. Many people who are widely considered heroes were awful by today's standards.

Take those slave-owning racists Washington and Jefferson, for example. Owned hundreds of slaves and never freed any of them. And Jefferson, of course, used them as sexual playthings. Truly horrible.

[JRLeft]

24. Yes all of them were awful, but Columbus was engaged sex trafficking

[Comrade Grumpy]

26. ??????

[IDemo]

29. From "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn

The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives. But as word spread of the Europeans' intent they found more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor.

http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html

And from Eric Kasum -

Shockingly, Columbus supervised the selling of native girls into sexual slavery. Young girls of the ages 9 to 10 were the most desired by his men. In 1500, Columbus casually wrote about it in his log. He said: "A hundred castellanoes 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 are now in demand."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html

[Nye Bevan]

22. Today's Native Americans actually originated in Asia and migrated to America from there.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247747.php

So yes, they did beat Columbus there, but nobody was truly "indigenous".

[Dollface]

28. Columbus Day. How is this still a thing?

[progressoid]

30. +1

[Le Taz Hot]

31. I was in Seattle once.

Loved everything about it. I've always said you could never get me to move out of California but I found Washington such a great state I could easily move there. Unfortunately, I hear tell they resent Californians moving there so there is that. But I still love Washington.

Anyway, kudos to Seattle for rejecting honoring a mass murderer in favorite of honoring/recognizing the indigenous people.

[cemaphonic]

38. The "resenting Californian" thing is mostly a long running in-joke at this point.

It was probably true in the 80s, when Seattle started a population boom that really hasn't let up since. But now, Seattle is so full of people from somewhere else (including lots of Californians) that no one really cares.

[True Blue Door]

32. Shouldn't be Columbus Day, but "Indigenous Peoples Day" is lame PC.

Instead, the day should be changed to something that celebrates the same sentiments with which Columbus Day was originally intended to commemorate - i.e., exploration and discovery. Just without the odious name of a ruthless bastard.

[IDemo]

35. Well, that would certainly work with the history reformers in Colorado

The trouble with exploration and discovery is that they were invariably followed by conquest, virtually always bloody. You can't pretend that Columbus and other voyagers were simply out for a look beyond the horizon and to improve the maps without white-washing the terrible truths involved.

[True Blue Door]

37. People eventually come into conflict, regardless of how they first make contact.

We can celebrate the boldness of sending ships beyond the limits of their knowledge without venerating a brutal man or the late medieval monarchies that piled their own atrocities on top of his.

[yellowcanine]

39. Why not "Native American" Day? More used than "Indigenous Peoples"

Italians should not be insulted. Columbus wasn't even Italian, there was no Italy, Columbus was Genoese and he was sponsored by Spain.

[candelista]

43. They should change the name to "Wallowing in Guilt" day.

Then everyone in this thread could dig a hog wallow and climb right in for a fiesta of retroactive group self loathing over something that happened 500 years ago.