Many of us learned this little jingle in grammar school and were reminded and tested on the subject until it became ingrained in our youthful brains. We were taught what a great man Columbus was, so great that we named towns and cities after him and even named a holiday after him. He must have been a great man.
So... let's recall just what he did that made him so famous.
First, and most importantly, he discovered America... even if he did arrive 15,000 years after the first wave of North American settlers who emigrated from Siberia according to recent DNA studies. Super... Christopher Columbus discovered America... oooook.
Second, he beat, robbed, and abused the natives of the islands he "discovered" and forced them into being virtual slaves to his eminent will. Yes sir, good ol' Chris discovered America.
Third... well, I can't think of a third thing he did to make us want to idolize him on his holiday unless maybe to celebrate his getting lost on the way to India. Now we are calling Native Americans by his erroneous title of "Indians." Wow... Go Chris!
In summary I will have to give good old Chris a little bit of credit. At least he did have the right idea about being able to sail west to reach India. He just didn't figure distance quite right. But, give him credit for trying... but NOT a holiday.
Kids need to learn about the history of our first settlers and about men like Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, and even the Vikings of Vineland (Canada). We also need to learn about Christopher Columbus. But please don't try to tell me that he discovered America. The first Siberian that walked across the Bering (Aleutian) Land Bridge discovered America. Well, at least that would be the first "Earthling" to discover America.
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