COLUMBUS DAY Chris discusses the origins of Columbus Day, perhaps the most debated and controversial of our federal holidays. Charges of cruelty against the native Indians have haunted the memory of the Italian explorer for hundreds of years, and have gained momentum in modern times, as progressive groups argue that his discovery of the new world has disenfranchised the indigenous peoples of both North and South America. Now that the holiday named for him has been challenged, some conservatives have objected. But is Columbus Day a long standing tradition in America? And does it really represent the spread of Christianity into the new world, as some suggest? Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the holiday in the United States is that Christopher Columbus never actually set foot on U.S. soil. Why then does our country honor him as the great discoverer of America?
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