Columbus

=Celebrating Columbus Day=

Monday, October 11th is Columbus Day. This is a Federal Holiday and so government offices are closed. So are many banks, and many schools along with some businesses.

The Day is meant to be an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on Columbus' discovery of the Americas which set in motion the historical chain of events that led to the founding of the United States and every other modern nation in North and South America and the Caribbean. The "Columbian exchange" of everything between the Old and New Worlds that followed produced winners and losers. Combinations of peoples from around the globe produced new cultures in the Americas at the cost of many Native American cultures. What's to celebrate ? Should this holiday be given a new focus, or be dropped all together ? What do you think ?