Columbus Day is so 19th Century: A current senate bill proposes we stop celebrating a mass murderer

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Americans celebrate Columbus Day as a national holiday to honor the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the exploration of the American Continent. Although this was significant to the growth of this country and the expansion of civilization, it’s insensitive to ignore the history and facts that accompany the arrival of Columbus.

We’ve been taught through history lessons that his arrival in America was a time of expansion and discovery. On Columbus Day, there may be parades or private celebrations for this national holiday, but most use this day as an observance holiday where people can think about the success of America and its growth.

Although we don’t mention it, Columbus and his crew’s arrival lead to them committing mass genocide to the Native American population, spreading disease and murdering the indigenous people with the sword. History even gives explicit detail that he and his men would test their strength and the sharpness of their weapons by chopping off the Native Americans hands and even slicing them to pieces.

We celebrate the arrival and settlement of this great movement and immigration, but we ignorantly forget the greatest genocide in Native American history and how that has influenced that growth and expansion of the United States.

Senate Bill 170 (SB0170) is currently under review for changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. While there is quite a disagreement on this movement, Native Americans have not forgotten their history and the lack of ancestry resulting from the massacre of Columbus and his men.

If diversity makes this country so great, why do we passively ignore the true facts of our country’s history by celebrating accomplishments instead of honoring and observing the lives lost and sacrificed? Early settlement in America has lead to many great things, but mass genocide of the Native Americans made by our settlers have caused many of our indigenous peoples their lives and their prosperity. It’s time this nation reviewed the past to make the future better.