{"id":135021,"date":"2017-10-09T12:01:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T18:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=135021"},"modified":"2017-10-09T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T22:12:00","slug":"columbus-day-became-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/09\/columbus-day-became-thing.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Columbus Day became a thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article provides some interesting insight into Columbus and how he was rescued from obscurity to become the subject of a holiday, through an effort by the US to show it was a world cultural power, and to denigrate Spain’s influence in the New World (as Columbus was Italian).<\/p>\n

An additional ingredient I’ve heard previously is that Columbus was latched onto by the waves of Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th Century — this same time period — as an example of how they, too, were part of the whole America thing (since there was a lot of push-back against them being here as non-Anglo, swarthy Mediterraneans, and Catholics to boot — some things never change).<\/p>\n

Indeed, some overly-earnest Italian-Americans are outraged of discussions about replacing Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day,”<\/a>\u00a0seeing it as an affront to them.<\/i> Let me say, as someone mostly of Italian descent, I don’t at all take losing Columbus Day as an insult.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s okay for heroes to have feet of clay. It renders them more human, helps us battle our own hubris, and gives hope that even our imperfect selves can do something great. But Columbus, as it turns out, was a hot mess of an individual, noteworthy for one achievement that, in retrospect, was instrumental in widespread death and destruction. And he was kind of a dick, too. A national celebration of him is not only not warranted, actually having<\/i> it is an affront to Italian-Americans.<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nHow Columbus, of all people, became a national symbol<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article provides some interesting insight into Columbus and how he was rescued from obscurity to become the subject of a holiday, through an effort by the US to show it was a world cultural power, and to denigrate Spain’s influence in the New World (as Columbus was Italian). An additional ingredient I’ve heard previously … Continue reading “Why Columbus Day became a thing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,108,68,380,740],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-history","category-holidays","category-nationalism-exceptionalism","category-race-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/unnamed-28.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45738,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/13\/the-columbus-day-backlash-backlash.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":0},"title":"The Columbus Day Backlash Backlash","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 13-Oct-14 10:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh, for pity's sake ...'In Seattle, where the measure passed the city council unanimously, some Italian-Americans are arguing the decision to celebrate Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day on the same day as Columbus Day denigrates the accomplishments of their culture. \u201cWe empathize with the death and destruction of the Native Americans,\u201d activist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135024,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/09\/donald-trump-comments-indigenous-peoples-day.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":1},"title":"Donald Trump comments on Indigenous Peoples Day","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 9-Oct-17 3:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, indirectly. In his proclamation today for Columbus Day, he mentions the Native Americans ... by omission. (Emphasis mine.) Five hundred and twenty-five years ago, Christopher Columbus completed an ambitious and daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The voyage was a remarkable and then-unparalleled feat that helped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/White-House.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45736,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/13\/happy-bartolome-day.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":2},"title":"Happy Bartolome Day!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 13-Oct-14 9:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"Because Christopher Columbus was kind of a jerk (to put it mildly). As the article puts it, \"He discovered the New World much like a meteorite discovered the dinosaurs.\" But Bartolom\u00e9 de las Casas was a pretty cool guy, and certainly more worthy of recognition and holidays than Columbus. (More\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41209,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/26\/rep-steve-king-is-a-dolt.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":3},"title":"Rep. Steve King is a Dolt","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 26-Feb-14 10:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, really? We're not treating the Western Hemisphere enough as \"Western Christendom\" and, thus, we have Cuba and Venezuela? \u00a0And we really ought to do more to \"the values that Christopher Columbus brought here across the ocean\"?(Actually, I think that's part of the US problem in the Western Hemisphere:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2415,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/06\/27\/fun_pledge_fact.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":4},"title":"Fun Pledge Facts","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Jun-02 3:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Just to show that the Pledge is hardly on a scale with the Ten Commandments when it comes to age and inviolability ... 1892: I pledge allegiance to my Flag...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38490,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/16\/the-age-of-not-so-much-discovery.html","url_meta":{"origin":135021,"position":5},"title":"The Age of Not-So-Much-Discovery","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-Aug-13 2:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Columbus discovered America! \u00a0Except for, y'know, all the people who were already living there.So what did the great exploring nations discover? \u00a0Um ... tiny islands, mostly. \u00a0The rest of the stuff -- less discovery, more reconnaissance for occupation, to put it politely. The Places Europeans Actually Discovered, Mapped In recent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135032,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135021\/revisions\/135032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}