Critics are blasting Brown University for changing the name of their Columbus Day holiday to Fall Weekend in an effort to expose the hypocrisy of a democratic nation celebrating a man who enslaved, raped, and murdered Native Americans. The complaints largely stem not from the name change but from Brown's own dicey past- its founding family were slave owners and traders.
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Brown University is receiving criticism for changing the name of their Columbus Day holiday to Fall Weekend, in an attempt to expose yet another national tie to slavery. While many of us are taught in elementary school that Christopher Columbus was a national hero, setting out to prove the earth was round and discovering America along the way, most of what we are taught is false, or at least embellished. Truthfully, Greek philosophers in the 4th century BC, such as Aristotle and Pythagoras, believed the earth to be spherical, and by 240 BC Eratosthenes had measured the circumference. Thus, when Columbus sailed he was not sailing for the noble cause of proving to scientists that the earth was round, he was traveling to India for money and fame, two rewards that are the impetus behind many actions. Columbus believed that he could bring back great riches from the Indies, while making himself famous for finding a faster way to reach the East than by land as Marco Polo had.
Sadly for all of us who enjoy a good nation hero, Columbus reached the islands around America first, now commonly believed to be the Bahamas. There, the cruel treatment of the natives by Columbus and his men included stealing from them, enslaving them, raping them, and murdering them. This is, of course, not what they teach us in elementary school. Columbus, although not really the first to "discovery" this area, was the first in a long line of westerners to begin enslaving and murdering natives. If most Americans read his journals, they would be horrified to discover that one of their national, historical figures was in fact a cruel terrorist and pirate. What should be a black spot in our national history turned into one of the biggest national lies, and its leader was given his own national holiday. How? I will never understand, but I congratulate Brown University for pointing out this national hypocrisy.
However, critics have presented an interesting quandary for Brown. Many are pointing out that the Brown family, who founded and funded the university, were in fact slave owners and traders. While the university points out that Nicholas Brown Jr., after whom the university is actually named, was an abolitionist, most of his family was not, and much of the family money came from slave trading. Thus, if Brown truly wants to expose hypocrisy and change the name of Columbus Day, shouldn’t they also change their own name? My response would be no. Brown University does not deny the dark past of its founding family, but its namesake was a person who went against his family and stood up for a worthy cause. He is a role model and someone worthy of recognition, who, in spite of his family’s past and against what I can only assume would have been strong opposition, opposed the institution of slavery that Columbus helped establish in our country. So, again, I say ‘kudos to Brown’!