Hannah Hayes' view: "While his legacy in the Jefferson County School curriculum is one of an explorer, it should be noted that Columbus� early travels were motivated by the search for slaves and greed for gold. Historical Spanish archives that resurfaced in 2005 yielded a report from his successor, Francisco de Bobadilla that recounts Columbus� governorship in the New World as tyrannical. The atrocities that Bobadilla said were inflicted upon settlers are horrifying.

Columbus Day should be stripped from our calendar and replaced with a day to honor a union of cultural diversity and the true roots of this country."

Kelly Weist's view: "The history of Columbus and all explorers has been one of a clash of cultures. Cultures that existed in lands that were subsequently discovered by other, more sophisticated cultures were often impacted adversely by disease, war and famine; the funny thing is that it went both ways. Disease, war and famine visited the �discovering� cultures as well, but the activists don�t want to acknowledge that. Instead, they want to rewrite history in such a way to as to force political correctness on all of us.

Genocide takes intent. You have to really want to obliterate a group of people, erase them from the face of the Earth. Think of the Holocaust, or the current jihad by Islamofascists. So even if the charges they level against Columbus are true, which they aren�t, it isn�t genocide."

Get the Story:
Devil's Advocate: Columbus: explorer of oppressor? (The Canyon Courier 9/27)

Relevant Links:
Transform Columbus Day - http://www.transformcolumbusday.org

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