The Occasional Observer

It's always great to read articles like this one, and remind myself what Columbus Day is really about. It's really about trying to convince ourselves that, on net balance, the European colonization of the New World has been at best a zero-sum game, and at worst, straight-up genocide.

Hey, Kindergartners, ya gots ta know the truth, yo.

Kolowith's students learn about the explorer's significance — though they also come away with a more nuanced picture of Columbus than the noble discoverer often portrayed in pop culture and legend.

"I talk about the situation where he didn't even realize where he was," Kolowith said. "And we talked about how he was very, very mean, very bossy."

BTW, a total tangent, but I wonder what General George S Patton thinks of this quote if he can read it from the hereafter. Or Henry Ford. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, folks.

Columbus' stature in U.S. classrooms has declined somewhat through the years, and many districts will not observe his namesake holiday on Monday. Although lessons vary, many teachers are trying to present a more balanced perspective of what happened after Columbus reached the Caribbean and the suffering of indigenous populations

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