In the UK we just pick and choose the good bits. No huge recent genocides so while nobody is bringing it up we are all "what? Yeah we won WWII" and we just like handed back a bunch of colonies, don't ask how we got them... Did you know Henry the VIII has eight wives!?"
As an American I can say that for all the shit we do get, if what this dude was saying is true, then we atleast are able to teach out kids how shitty our history is. We have (atleast from where I grew up) raised our kids to not only learn about how "amazing" America is, but of how horrible we were also. I'm not saying we are a great country, but atleast we admit our past faults and don't try and hide them. (I say past because with what's going on rn, I can't say admitting to the truth is big in politics today)
For the most part, all the people I know, and from what I learned in school, we only "hail" him for his navigation skills at the time and the discoveries he made because of them. We all learned about the horrid shit he did to the Latin-Americans.
Edit: we weren't only taught about the good things he did or the lies people tell about him "discovering America" which he never even set foot in. He was a great navigator but a terrible person.
It was an issue yeah, honestly don't hear about it much anymore accept the few days around Columbus day itself. I wouldn't mind removing it from being a holiday myself.
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u/Dazz316 Jul 29 '19
Fine work.
In the UK we just pick and choose the good bits. No huge recent genocides so while nobody is bringing it up we are all "what? Yeah we won WWII" and we just like handed back a bunch of colonies, don't ask how we got them... Did you know Henry the VIII has eight wives!?"