Odd man out

Out of all the federal holidays in the U.S. only three honor a particular person. We have Martin Luther King Jr. Day which we just celebrated earlier this week, on February 15 we celebrate Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day), and finally, on October 11, Columbus Day is celebrated.

The accomplishments of the first two figures provide us with more than enough reasons to honor them with a holiday. The resiliency with which they approached their tasks was truly remarkable. Let’s throw it out there right now, yeah Washington was a known slave owner and yes that is terrible and shameful, but his influence on the foundation of this country was extraordinary. Not to excuse him one bit, but it was also with the times, just how it’s with the times now for employers to hire undocumented immigrants for mediocre wages. No, no quite the same, but corruption too has evolved. With that in mind we’ll give Washington the benefit of the doubt considering his circumstances and his many achievements. Besides, the real problem out of these three is Christopher Columbus.

Contrary to popular belief, or fourth grade education, Columbus did not discover America. Up to his death and after several voyages to the Caribbean, Columbus died fully convinced that the islands he had landed on were part of his ever illusive route to Asia. The man never even set foot in what is continental U.S. It gets worse. The Spanish monarchs didn’t just hand him funds for the voyages, he was expected to pay them back with the riches he was to find. Once he arrived to Hispaniola (Dominican Republic, Haiti) and failed to encounter these riches, Columbus turned to enslaving natives as a form of currency. Columbus was one of the pioneers of slavery in the western world, Washington set a foundation for the leaders of what would become the most influential nation in the world, and Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream to liberate the world of inequality. There is an odd man out here.

Click here for more details on Columbus and for a different side of the argument click here.