When is Columbus Day?

The day commemorates the landing

of Christopher Columbus to the “New World,” now known as the Americas, as well as the subsequent colonization and modernization of society. Columbus Day has been the topic of controversy for centuries — especially recently — due to the fact that masses of Native Americans were slaughtered and enslaves in order to push European customs to the Americas.

People will be celebrating Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. A study conducted by Marist College — in concert with the Knights of Columbus — discovered that most Americans think honoring Christopher Columbus is a good idea.

About 56% of Americans said they had a favorable view of Columbus, while 28% had an unfavorable view. The rest of people surveyed were unsure how they felt about Columbus Day.

Furthermore, 57% of Americans thought it was a good idea to have a holiday named after Columbus, while 29% said it’s a bad idea and the rest had no opinion. Black Americans mostly voted against the holiday, with 54% voting against it, 25% favoring it and the rest unsure about how they feel.

Various institutions around the nation have sought to chance the name of Columbus Day or eliminate it altogether. The Los Angeles City Council has pushed to remove Columbus from the name, and changing it to a day that honors “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.”

Many of these respondents — about 76% — believe Columbus should be judged based on the customs and standards of his time, not ours.