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Columbus Day

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Clarissa

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It’s the Columbus Day in the US today and my Hispanic Civilization students told me that after I made them read Columbus’s diaries, they will never be able to feel anything but hatred for this holiday.

I feel like a Grinch who stole Columbus Day. Which is why I’m planning to avoid any discussion of Thanksgiving. There is a limit on how many holiday traditions I want to damage.

P.S. I didn’t say anything bad about Columbus, by the way. I just gave the students the texts and they drew their own conclusions. One was so traumatized that she wrote me a long passionate email at 2 am denouncing Columbus and calling him “that racist creep.”

10 responses to “Columbus Day”

  1. Vanessa Sosa Avatar
    Vanessa Sosa

    I understand, I went through school thinking Columbus was this great guy who discovered America. And it’s a big holiday for Italian-Americans, they treat it the way that the Irish treat St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a bit of a sore spot with some Italians that Native Americans dislike Columbus Day, they see it as raining on their parade and spoiling their fun. And Thanksgiving is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, but I don’t believe in telling the kids bad stuff about the mess with Native Americans until they’re older, they’re too young and not ready for that yet.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      I love celebrating Thanksgiving. the food is amazing and the entire tradition is great. But the history behind the holiday is quite sad.

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      1. N G Avatar
        N G

        Today is Thanksgiving or Jour de l’Action de grâce and a holiday in Canada.

        Different history:

        “The history of Thanksgiving in Canada can be traced back to the 1578 voyage of Martin Frobisher from England in search of the Northwest Passage. In this, his third, voyage to the Frobisher Bay area of Baffin Island in the present Canadian Territory of Nunavut, it was also the intention to start a small settlement and his fleet of 15 ships were so fitted out with men, materials and provisions for this purpose. However, the loss of one of his ships through contact with ice along with much of the building material was to prevent him from doing so. The expedition was plagued by ice and freak storms which at times had scattered the fleet and on meeting together again at their anchorage in Frobisher Bay. “(Wikipedia)

        Had a family meal with two of my children yesterday – Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, beets and, of course, pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

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  2. Vanessa Sosa Avatar
    Vanessa Sosa

    I know, but cooking the whole thing can be exhausting 😉 I do remember when I was in kindergarten and first grade we would make pilgrim hats and “Indian” headdresses with construction paper and the mom’s would bring in food for us, I realize now it may not have been a very culturally sensitive thing to do but we were just kids who didn’t know better. I don’t believe in showing little kids the darker side of history until they’re old enough to understand it, I think there was a school in California that got sued by the parents because the teachers did a bit on local history that included a massacre of a local tribe and they had kids pretend to be members of the tribe that were killed and others had to be the Americans doing the killing, I agree with the parents on this one. The kids were too young for that and couldn’t comprehend it just yet, I’m drinking Blue Point Hoptical IPA so I’m rambling a bit now 😀

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    1. N G Avatar
      N G

      My favourite film clip is the Adam’s family Thanksgiving:

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      1. La Avatar
        La

        Fab clip! I’d forgotten all about that film.

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  3. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Going to the sources is usually very educational, but many students seem to like their history predigested. Don’t tell me what happened, just tell me the Causes and the Results.

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  4. David Gendron Avatar
    David Gendron

    Fuck Colombus!

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    1. David Gendron Avatar
      David Gendron

      Fuck ColUmbus

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  5. Misskate Avatar
    Misskate

    I go with the Sarah Hale/President Lincoln version of Thanksgiving. Still a cultural minefield, but not as bad as genocide.
    It’s my favorite holiday and I make my colleagues celebrate it (I teach at an international school), but I would never do lessons on it with my students.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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