Community Corner

POLL: Rename Columbus Day?

Reconciling a holiday overshadowed by a deadly chapter in the history of the Americas.

Across the U.S., millions mark Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the New World—particularly those Americans who share the Genoan merchant son's Italian heritage.

However, for thousands of Brooklynites with roots in the same islands first visited by the explorer in 1492, the holiday is still a mostly unwelcome reminder of a catastrophe that wiped out millions of indigenous peoples and signaled the beginning of the end for complex civilizations from the Andes to Alaska.

"For me, this is a black day," said Crown Heights resident Thomas Williams, originally from Trinidad. "There's no celebration here."

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Another Brooklynite of West Indian descent seemed perplexed by the holiday, and the man behind it.

"I don't even know why they're celebrating it," said Anthony, an employee at Sally's West Indian Restaurant who hails from Jamaica. "It makes no sense to me."

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So here's a question: Now that the negative effects of Columbus' travels to the New World are a regular part of classroom curriculums across the city, is a name change for this national holiday in order?


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