Today is the first Columbus Day in Los Angeles that is being celebrated as Indigenous Peoples Day. A statue of Christopher Columbus outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles was covered by a large while cloth early this morning.
Christopher Columbus famously discovered this great country in 1492 and for that reason alone it is worth celebrating Columbus Day in the United States. People have been protesting the celebration almost as long as it began hundreds of years ago and some have even started a movement to change Columbus Day to "Indigenous Peoples Day" instead.
A growing number of communities now are ditching the traditional Columbus Day holiday in favor of Indigenous People's Day, which, supporters say, is meant to promote an accurate telling of the United States' history and commemorate the resilience of its original inhabitants against European settlers. Just this year, 20 cities and one county have adopted some proclamation or ordinance declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous People's Day.
See ya Christopher Columbus. Oh, and kids in Los Angeles will no longer be chanting the poem: Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in 1492.
Monday is Columbus Day, which usually means a redux of now years-long debate about Christopher Columbus's legacy. This debate increasingly questions the traditional portrait of Columbus as heroic "discoverer" of the American continent and instead emphasizes his mistreatment of native populations and the long-term consequences of European colonization.
In October of 1492, Christopher Columbus completed the first of his expeditions that would land him on the shores of North America. Sponsored by Isabella I and Ferdinand II, Columbus embarked on a 10-week voyage he had hoped would lead to Asia.
As social justice warriors across the country continue to try to despoil the legacy of Christopher Columbus, the classic American company Brooks Brothers continues to recognize the importance of the great discoverer of the New World. Through Tuesday, October 11 , you get to take an extra 25 percent your purchases at BrooksBrothers.com .