Columbus Day Must Be Preserved

As an American of Italian decent and a former history teacher, I am committed to preserving Columbus Day because Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Columbo, a Latino) made an incredible contribution to world development.  Columbus brought Western Civilization and Christianity to the New World including the great, the good, the bad and the ugly.   However, to get the big picture, since history is always politicized by National Socialist Fascists and Fake News, it is important to recognize what existed when Columbus arrived in the Caribbean.  

Native Americans in what is now the United States, were primarily a nomadic people practicing some agriculture.  They were hunters and gatherers living in very primitive dwellings, Tee Pee's.  They created very few permanent structures except for some burial mounds in some areas.  And, they frequently were at war with each other living in various tribes.  Those that they did not kill during many wars were sometimes enslaved.  

The Mayas, Aztecs and Incas in what is now Mexico and South America all had slaves and practiced human sacrifice.  They did build incredible structures that demonstrated advanced skills and knowledge.  They practiced agriculture based on the ability to manage water resources.  This was the Americas that Christopher Columbus discovered in 1492. 

Slavery already existed in the Americas and the world for thousands of years including in Africa.  It was not some invention by evil White Europeans.  That is not a justification for slavery; just an inconvenient fact.  It is true that Europeans brought various diseases that ultimately killed off millions of indigenous peoples because they had no resistance to many diseases that did not exist in the New World.   It is also true that Europeans imposed Christianity on native peoples and in the process ended human sacrifice, which was common in Latin America.  In the end, cultures combined in many positive ways that impacted all peoples.  

In all cases, we need to recognize the great, good, bad and ugly about world history.  The whole truth and nothing but the truth should be the objective not some revisionist, racist fake history that is being advanced today by National Socialist Fascists in our schools and on Fake News.