Brown University will no longer recognize “Columbus Day” as a holiday.
No Columbus Day At Brown
The faculty of Brown University voted to establish a new academic holiday in October called “Fall Weekend” which will be celebrated at the same time as “Columbus Day.” The faculty voted to change the name because a group of Brown students protested the observance of Columbus Day. After all, Christopher Columbus treated Native Americans so very badly. He conquered them and caused them to have horrible diseases, which, by the way, eventually lead to the establishment of the most powerful and wealthiest nation on earth.
Brown University students celebrated the announcement along with members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.
I have news for Brown University students: most of the Founding Fathers owned slaves, Lincoln mistreated his wife, Malcolm X was a complete sexist, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy were womanizers, and ALL of them were completely unacceptably politically incorrect by today’s standards. If you want to go down this road and judge people by today’s standards, then we cannot honor anything in America’s past.
Oh, and another thing, Native Americans went to war with and conquered each other, and also treated women really badly, so we can’t really celebrate them either. And Africans enslaved each other and also did horrible things to each other, so they can’t be celebrated either. The Japanese/Chinese/Mongols/Koreans spent the better part of 2000 years trying to kill each other, and they really treat women badly too, so let’s not celebrate them either. In fact, the history of the world is filled with people who did horrible things to each other, so perhaps we can’t celebrate any culture, nation or the founding of anything. After all, life sucks.
In fact, why don’t you all engage in self-flagellation for the next 20 years to make up for the fact that you live in a country founded by people who conquered other people and were not-so-nice sometimes. After all, how dare Columbus discover a land that allows you to spend $60,000 a year on a useless education.
In the meantime, this racist/sexist/oppressive individual will continue to enjoy the fruits of Columbus’ discovery.
But hey, since I’m a fair guy, below is a funny video about why Columbus Day is the celebration of a genocidal catastrophe. Yes, I think it’s funny. Unintentionally, very, very, very funny.
Columbus Day Genocide.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
When did we get so emotionally and verbally constipated by political correctness that we can’t even teach history or speak of any accomplishments made about anglo-saxons in any way shape or form?
So sad. Its really so sad.
Very well said Ignat! The video is really hilarious in a dark humor kind of way.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
well … i actually have to agree with them on this one
columbus was a viscious killer and slave trader.
if you want to celebrate Italians, have a leonardo da vinci day or a michaelangelo day or a enrico fermi day
April 8th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
lisab - what kind of man would it take to get on one of those little ships and keep a bunch of seamen in line to cross the ocean in 1492? Especially when most people thought they would sail right off the end of the earth?
I’ve heard the argument that he was a rough man. Seriously, it took rough men to do what he did. He probably cussed like a dog too and beat ship mates who got out of line. It was the way things were then. A gentle man couldn’t have gotten that ship and that crew across the Atlantic.
The problem is judging him by 20th and 21st standards is the point Ignat is making I think.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
yeah, he was tough.
he was also a brutal murdering slavetrader who raped and pillaged his way across the carribean.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
we don’t celebrate attila the hun day
or
ghengis khan day
or
viking day
or
mehmed II day
or
vlad the impaler day
etc.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
the ONLY thing we can do to these evil men is to treat them
as
evil
men.
i used to get this … ahem … cultural sensitivity crapola … all the time in the peace corps. “oh lisa … we should be sensitive to their culture … when the leaders steal from the poor we should judge them by their own standards.”
bullSh*^% …
i was in the OTHER peace corps … the one that gets things done — and maybe causes a few international incidents
i am still known by interpol as the kitty litter smuggler of southeast asian … try to explain to chinese border guards what kitty litter is (three kilos of white substance) when they themselves eat cats … and you get my point …
somebody has to teach them
April 8th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
So THIS is why we don’t have no holiday for Ronald Reagan.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
(You can take that either way. But knowing me I am sure you know how it was meant.)
April 9th, 2009 at 1:05 am
I read a book on Columbus. He WAS very brutal to the natives. I will take the side of the Brown students also.
April 9th, 2009 at 1:25 am
The students and faculty at Brown are correct. Columbus was not the hero we were taught in earlier history books. More recent history books are more truthful about him.
You can check out my video about Columbus (which is historically accurate) on youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT5cIeHPR-c&feature=channel_page
If the video seems to run too quickly for you to read the information, hit the pause/play button to stop it temporarily while you read. Then hit the pause/play button to start it up again.
Columbus did not discover America. The Vikings had settlements here (actually in North America) hundreds of years before. Columbus never even set foot on United States soil. He died thinking he had found a better trade route to India (hence First Nation people are called Indians).
Columbus engaged in genocide against the populations where he landed.
I urge everyone to research history and not rely on the inaccuracies you were taught years ago. There were lots of inaccurate stories in those history texts. My video above is a good starting place.
April 9th, 2009 at 4:06 am
Even leaving Columbus’ treatment of the natives aside, he gets far too much credit for “discovering America”. At best, he is one of dozens upon dozens of men who led expeditions to this part of the world over the course of a few centuries. There is no single man, ship, expedition, or discovery that can be credited with the formation of the Americas.
Add to this the fact that he was a brutal mercenary, perpetrating murder and genocide on the behalf of a foreign country for the purposes of establishing a trade route, and I don’t really have a problem with dropping Columbus day from Brown’s calendar (or any other calendar, for that matter).
April 9th, 2009 at 5:26 am
Well, all of us are sinners, just like those who came before us, which leaves us with few options to celebrate. We could celebrate the unborn (they have not gotten the chance to sin yet), but that would be inconvenient as some in our nation are hell bent to kill them, maybe precisely because they are innocent.
The only other option is to celebrate Christ as he was sinless, but that is also a big no-no nowadays, particularly because some of the things he said make people uncomfortable. He was too politically incorrect, stating that people needed to repent and change their ways.
I guess we will have to gather around whales and penguins and sing to their greatness. Wait, we are already doing that.
April 9th, 2009 at 5:53 am
This is inane! Even the Brown University web site at http://tinyurl.com/2ts7vc admits that the Brown family fortune was made in the SLAVE TRADE! The founders of the University, owned slaves, traded in slaves, and the most historic building on campus, University Hall was BUILT by slaves!
The early Browns were either ministers or slavers - and there wasn’t any money in the ministry business!
I learned these facts as a student at Brown in 1956-57.
How can PC students and faculty support such an institution?
April 9th, 2009 at 5:57 am
well said ig. ^5
April 9th, 2009 at 6:00 am
@L Rivera: This isn’t about “sin”. Leave that crap at church. You can say “all of us are sinners”, and I don’t know about you, but I have never given anyone a smallpox-infected blanket. My sins have nothing on those of Columbus, unless you consider drug use and premarital sex tantamount to genocide.
Also, there is already a holiday to “celebrate Christ”, as you say.
@Fred Bothwell: So what’s your point here? Because Brown’s founders had some involvement in the slave trade, we should worship Columbus? Knock Brown all you want (and I don’t even really disagree with you), but the debate here is essentially about the validity of Columbus Day.
April 9th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Why not just rename all the holidays Obama Day.
Good grief. If we had wimpy men like Barry in 1492, his crew would have killed him and even if he had made it, the natives here would have killed him because of his speeches.
It was a different time then just as it was for women here not having the vote for 150 years. Slavery is a part of our history. So is the fact that we abolished it.
Brown and other colleges need to teach history as it happen not as they wish it happened. That is a problem today with some kids. They have been taught PC History.
What shall we rename Easter and Passover? ‘Spring Happy Bunny Weekend’ because those Romans were bloody killers and they crusified people in public for crimes. They use to line the roads with crusified criminals.
Just teach history as it really happened and stop twisting and changing or hiding the facts. I think most of us understand that Columbus was a mean men and did unthinkable things. If it wasn’t him, it was someone else just as mean. Have none of you thought abouth that? But we don’t allow things like that today. (Unless it is in Africa and then we deny it until a hollywood star chooses it as a cause.)
Mankind can be cruel and mean, but it can also be kind and loving.
I am just sick and tired of wimpy, whiney, people that think everyone is mean and cruel.
This life and this world ain’t no picnic, but it has more good then evil and in the end good raines over evil.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Just teach history as it really happened and stop twisting and changing or hiding the facts.
Well yeah, that’s sort of the whole point. This false legend of Columbus “discovering” America has been shoved onto generations of school children, while the actual historic facts are much less glorious.
Listen, there’s nothing wrong with admiring the courage the guy showed, and to feature him as an important part of the colonization of the Americas, but he isn’t the whole story. Not by a long shot.
Like you said, let’s present the actual facts and avoid manufactured legends as well as PC sensitivity.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Rhayader, geez, everytime I talk about Jesus or related topics, you jump. And you even try to censor me! Where are your ‘liberal’ values? I want my slice of the Fairness Doctrine. Keep that up and you won’t get your own holiday.
In Puerto Rico we call ‘Columbus Day’ the ‘Day of the discovery of America’. I don’t know why it’s called different here precisely in America, but I guess you have to pinpoint the event to a day, be it any day. Christ was not born in Christmas (Rhayader, please don’t kill me for mentioning churchy things here, I am just giving an example), but it’s nice to choose one day and celebrate it. Maybe we can rename that one ‘Day of Discovery of America’, even if it’s probably not accurate, and move on. Rayader, now that you are all fired up due to Columbus’ crimes, don’t forget that we are dealing with a 1.5 million a year genocide in America too.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:37 am
@L Rivera: How did I “try to censor” you? How in the world would one commenter have the authority to even pretend to censor another? Disagreement is not an attempt at censorship.
The reason I object to the notion of “sin” entering this discussion is that sin is an inherently religious idea, and we are talking about a national (ie, government sponsored) holiday. Regardless of how religious the population as a whole is, our government is mandated by the Constitution to avoid influence by the church on the state.
I find it funny that Columbus Day is called the “Day of the Discovery of America” in Puerto Rico. As I have said a few times now, the notion that Columbus “discovered” anything is completely inaccurate. The historical legend is just that: a legend.
Rayader, now that you are all fired up due to Columbus’ crimes, don’t forget that we are dealing with a 1.5 million a year genocide in America too.
I have no clue what you are even referring to here, nor how it relates to the discussion of Columbus Day in any way. I’d be happy to respond if you can provide a little clarification.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:40 am
L,
People are scared of things they don’t know about or have misconceptions about. And things they think they know about but don’t.
The Fairness Doctrine only applies to the left. Remember we on the right, hate babies, old people, people of color, God, God fearing people and anyone that doesn’t like sex with the oppostie sex.
We have MLK day and some say he had a mistress. George Washington owned slaves, yet we call him the father of our country. Memorial Day honors thoses that have fought and died for our liberty but some of them have killed innocent people and raped women. And the same can be said for Veterans on Veterans Day.
This is just another sign of the times we live in. I find it all funny that 500 years later we have all this knowledge that we didn’t have 40 or 50 years ago. We may have had it and just white washed it (Can I still say white wash?).
April 9th, 2009 at 9:10 am
If you want to stop allowing mean people from the past from being symbols, we’re gonna have to rename everything.
If Columbus’ crime of killing the native populations is so awful, I guess we also need to pretty much disallow celebrating any president from inception til about 1900, as they encouraged the settlement of the west and dislocating/killing the natives (Andrew Jackson would have to be villified as a war criminal).
And what about slave-owners? Or robber barons? Or sexists? Where does it end?
Beth is right. It’s easy to say by 21st century norms, a 15th century man was evil. Just as evil was every leader of Islam during its expansion, the Popes throughout history, and all who imposed one way of life on another people (which is pretty much every successful world leader up until modern times).
Caesar Salad? General Tso’s Chicken? Those guys were killers!
We couldn’t really celebrate the existence of any country or culture, because every worthwhile piece of land on earth was at one point taken brutally from someone else through violence.
Or, if we accept that we have bad people in our pasts, but that our past is in the end still worthy of celebration, let’s keep things as they are.
Go Columbus, Ohio!
April 9th, 2009 at 9:20 am
@Ignatius: Haha, well Caeser Salad and General Tso’s Chicken are sort of silly examples, but yeah I hear you. I basically agree that it makes no sense to judge these people based on our current cultural norms.
However, with the Columbus thing specifically, I think decades of school children have been fed this BS line about Columbus “discovering” America. This leaves out about 95% of the picture and is incredibly misleading.
I am not lamenting the existence of Columbus day so much as I am lamenting the misinformation passed off as fact for decades in social studies classes around the country. I don’t hate him for the “bad” things he did, but I think information on him should be presented in a way that is consistent with what we actually know.
April 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
“I find it funny that Columbus Day is called the “Day of the Discovery of America” in Puerto Rico. As I have said a few times now, the notion that Columbus “discovered” anything is completely inaccurate”
yeah … it is hard to discover a place that has people living there.
imagine going to london and saying, “wow … look what i found! everything here is mine”
April 9th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
He “discovered” it for Western civilization, which is something to celebrate, considering it would still be a whole lot of unused wilderness if he hadn’t done so.
Also, people seem to “celebrate” ancient Mayan ruins though there is evidence that they sacrificed their young at those places. Should we tear down all those pyramids because the Mayans were terrible people that killed their young and enslaved thousands? Or do we accept that ALL of our pasts contain some good and some awful, but still have a lot worth celebrating?
April 9th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Brown doesn’t disown Columbus. The Brown community knows that Columbus was a significant figure. His actions did indeed lead to the creation of one of the most powerful nations of today. Not that he had much to do with that, other than get the word out that this land existed to be conquered. But does he really need a holiday? What makes the Italian’s concerns more relevant than the Native American’s?
And P.S.: since you’re so full of yourself being correct, you could at least do enough research to know that Brown is $47,740, so your little figure of 60k is just a few thousand off. And “The average financial-aid package for the class of 2012 was $33,550.” Which, in conclusion, means that the average student family has to pay about $14,000. It’s about what your average state college costs. I guess all education is pretty worthless, then.