More than 500 years after the “discovery” of the Americas, Christopher Columbus continues to be celebrated in the U.S. every year, however, there is absolutely nothing worthwhile in celebrating a genocidal colonizer.

Yes, it is important to not forget how he and his men destroyed the lives of millions of indigenous people, but for him to be honored as some kind of “American symbol” is beyond shameful.

Columbus may be seen as a symbol in this country, but what he symbolizes is repulsive.

While he may still be valorized in the U.S, a few states and parts of Indo-America have refused to acknowledge Columbus’ atrocities and lies, and now instead honor the day for indigenous peoples.

It is a great thing to see some communities push for change in the celebration, but more places need to step up to that change.

The most recent city to to swap Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day is Seattle, Washington by an unanimous vote in the city council after a change was pushed by activists.

According to an article by NPR, Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant said, “Learning about the history of Columbus and transforming this day into a celebration of indigenous people and a celebration of social justice… allows us to make a connection between this painful history and the ongoing marginalization, discrimination and poverty that indigenous communities face to this day.”

South Dakota, Minneapolis and Hawaii are also parts of the U.S. who have swapped out Columbus Day to celebrate the indigenous people.

As the majority of Americans may think that 1492 is some kind of magical year in which Columbus discovered America, he never actually came to the U.S., as he was in the Caribbean where there was already a population of indigenous people known as the Arawaks. 

We learn of the myth that he was a “great navigator,” but was he really if he was not able to find his way out of the Caribbean to the mainland?

For Columbus Day to still be considered a holiday is an insult. How can a country that to this day has a major racial and discrimination problem continue to honor a man who stands for racism, evil and murder?

The fact the “Pledge of Allegiance” was written in honor of Columbus’ 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas, shows that this country may not always be honoring the right people. 

Although the holiday is considered one of the most inconsistently celebrated in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center, it is embarrassing to say there is still a day every year where Columbus is remembered.

As children in school, we have been whole-heartedly convinced Columbus “sailed the ocean blue” and discovered the Americas– but seriously, how can you discover a land that was already occupied by indigenous people? Impossible right? What that tells us is that going and taking someone else’s property and claiming to have “discovered” it is OK–there is nothing fine with that. 

Yes, it may be too much to expose the truth to children about Columbus and how he was a disseminator for mass murder and disease that wiped out an entire population of people by the time he left, but it is unacceptable to lie and make them believe he was a brave explorer who led a crew to discover a land.

There is so much to the real story; picking out pieces that make him look good is hiding most of truth of who he really was.

We sadly have bought into the master narrative this country does so carefully and honestly quite well. It is not until college– if that even happens– that we find out the truth of the filtered information we were taught and grasped onto as children.

What Columbus and his crew committed was genocide, as defined under international law, and it is time we start to recognize that he indeed was not that “brave explorer” we were once made to believe.

There needs to be bigger strides in eliminating a holiday meant to celebrate Columbus and his “discovery.” Just as some places have made the change to honor the Indigenous people, that should serve as an example for the rest of us to push for that change.