[nixon_why69]

In short order after 500 years? You're not wrong about his qualities but he was still the guy who did it first, and it's still called the Columbian exchange.

[CuriouslyC]

When I was young Columbus was lionized in schools. Now young people I talk to demonize him more and more. He wasn't even first (Viking explorers beat him there by a lot), he was just first to brutally exploit. I'm sure the things that are named after him will be renamed eventually to honor more deserving figures.

[inglor_cz]

That is a very US-ian perspective. AFAIK he is still lionized in Latin America, and likely will continue to be, as he is a sorta-kinda the ur-founder of all those nations.

[nixon_why69]

Also, I'm not letting Columbus off the hook but he was on one island for like 3 years and he didn't even kill everyone.

The US and Canada genocided most of a continent over 2-300. We were killing buffalo herds and not even harvesting the meat just to deny them food.

[vintermann]

That may be true, but if so it will be a failure of education, and a tragedy of identity politics (was that gleeful rapist who was so loathsome even his own people sent him back to Europe in chains, really the best icon anyone could find to rally around?)

[nixon_why69]

The US still celebrates presidents' day, near the birthday of early presidents who killed far more natives.

Convenient to blame the non-anglo guy while most of the Spanish countries aside from Argentina didnt commit genocide to nearly the same extent.

[vintermann]

We don't actually need icons to rally around, whether we're anglo or whatever else you may identify as.

[nixon_why69]

That's a "fish don't know they're in water" sort of statement. Every other country is rallying around icons but we know the real truth?

The effort to blame Columbus ahead of our own presidents is all about protecting our own icons.