Columbus Meets Indigenous People

Poor old Chris Columbus. Generations of schoolchildren were taught to praise his exploits, which – after all – included the discovery of America, according to The College Fix. But lately things have taken an ugly turn—and his reputation has suffered irreparable damage, thanks to a claque of revisionist historians who have slowly but surely knocked him off his pedestal.

The latest blow to Columbus’s heroic status came from Arizona State University, Tempe, which decided to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day. The switch was apparently long overdue, since enlightened souls in the city of Berkeley had launched the first such observance in 1992.

However, Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity believes this might just be another example of political correctness run wild. “We should be able to celebrate both without denigrating either,” said Clegg, adding that “replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People Day . . .is a silly anti-Western statement and a celebration of fashionable victimhood.”

Deborah Lambert writes the Squeaky Chalk column for Accuracy in Academia.
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