we can ask is why some candidates are given preferential treatment over others at events that are supposed to be non-political anyway.
Another question we can ask is why the hell Columbus Day is still being celebrated at all. Are people really that nostalgic that they can ignore the genocide part of Columbus’ legacy, or is it that torture is back in Vogue?
It’d be more respectable to stop with this Columbus crap and just have an Italian pride day. Celebrate the culture, not the criminals.
It occurs to me that I should elaborate, lest I be written off as a left wing nutjob.
Christopher Columbus was not a popular man is his own time either. His exploits are well-documented; he kept a very detailed journal. What he immediately brought to the “new world” was slavery (forcing indigenous people to find him gold) and violence. His legacy was a decimation of the Arawak and a similar imperialism echoed around the globe. Columbus didn’t invent cruelty, but for some reason he is still being celebrated in spite of it.
I find it endlessly hypocritical for people to claim they believe in the “American way of life” (read: freedom), but still insist on celebrating historical figures who exemplify anything but freedom.
