Change Columbus Day to Exploration Day • Hacker News Board

Re: Change Columbus Day to Exploration Day

#21

Post by idonthack » Sat, Oct 06, 2012, 12:48 PM UTC

archangel_one wrote: post #9

sharkweek wrote: post #2

This will never happen for a variety of reasons -- but I have always lobbied to remove Columbus Day as a holiday and replace it with Election Day, hopefully encouraging a larger number of people to vote.

Is this really a big problem in the States? It just seems a little strange that you appear to take your elections very seriously, and have these huge campaigns etc, but then voter turnout is still considered low? One solution that occurs to me, simply because this is what used to happen in New Zealand and seemed to work okay, is to hold the election on a Saturday.

It's partly a symptom of an alienated electorate. If neither of the candidates represent your position, what's the point?

Re: Change Columbus Day to Exploration Day

#22

Post by agpen » Sat, Oct 06, 2012, 3:10 PM UTC

jsnk wrote: post #6

I don't really care about the actual issue, but the objections raised to Columbus Day are absurd to me. Why is euro-centrism bad? I am not of European descent, but historically speaking, contributions made by Europeans are undeniably tremendous. I don't think there's anything controversial about acknowledging that Europeans had a pretty remarkable run in recent centuries. Does euro-centrism have a bad name because of…

Whitewashing and cheerleading a legacy of genocide, rape, enslavement, and the theft of land and resources is "bad", yes. Further, establishing the history of the conquerors as the dominant narrative is a time honored tradition for stamping out native history, language, culture, and values.

e.g. In the US there is no "white history month" because EVERY month is white history month, white history is simply called "history" and is treated as a norm with only token attention paid to what lies outside it. This establishes an unconscious acceptance of white superiority and historical priority in both white and students of color and is a cornerstone of systemic white privilege.

Re: Change Columbus Day to Exploration Day

#23

Post by drama247365 » Sat, Oct 06, 2012, 4:29 PM UTC

ktizo wrote: post #20

drama247365 wrote: post #12

He was a brave Italian explorer. And on this website, Christopher Columbus is a hero. End of story.

He was a lucky and murderous idiot who thought he had landed in India.

I guess there are no Soprano's fans on HN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOn8DXb0inM

Re: Change Columbus Day to Exploration Day

#24

Post by sharkweek » Sat, Oct 06, 2012, 5:31 PM UTC

waterlesscloud wrote: post #11

archangel_one wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really a big problem in the States? It just seems a little strange that you appear to take your elections very seriously, and have these huge campaigns etc, but then voter turnout is still considered low? One solution that occurs to me, simply because this is what used to happen in New Zealand and seemed to work okay, is to hold the election on a Saturday.

We have vote-by-mail all over the place now, so there's not much excuse beyond laziness. In my opinion, if you can't be bothered to put in the minimal effort required now, I'd prefer you didn't vote anyway. I find it difficult to believe you'd be making anything resembling an informed decision.

The irony always being that voting for president has arguably less DIRECT impact on our lives than voting for local government, but people get far more worked up over the big stuff