Humans love stories, and most countries are formed around stories of heroism to create a sense of unity and belonging.
When America gained independence from Britain, it too needed a hero but, for obvious reasons, a non-British.
Columbus, an Italian, is said to have sighted America in 1492, but he never really set foot on the lands of modern-day’s North America?He went to modern-day’s Caribbean islands, central and South America. & was no hero till 1770s.
But when America’s war of independence started in 1775, Columbus was most suited to fill the vacant spot of a hero – he was courageous, unconventional, intelligent, non-British and had been subjected to bad treatment and put in jail by the Spanish monarch (who had at first sponsored his voyage).
Anti-monarchy sentiment was quite prevalent at the time and this gained Columbus huge popularity.
But his popularity grew exponentially in 1890-1915 because of the excessive migration from poverty-stricken Italy to the US during that period.
Disadvantaged Italians faced discrimination, so they embraced Columbus to argue their belongingness in America.
Then a social club, Knights of Columbus, founded by Italian migrants grew in influence and convinced the US President in 1937 to proclaim Columbus Day a federal holiday.
In 1939, WWII broke out and many Native Americans aided the US in the war but their efforts were not adequately recognised after the war ended in 1945.
This and other discriminatory practices gave rise to Native American activism.
This continued at a low pace but took centerstage during the 1960s civil rights movement, which was led by the black community against discrimination.
The demand for change during the civil rights protests also made Native Americans a part of the conversation and historians began re-examining Columbus & his stories.
Historians, then corrected the myth and included stories of the slave trade, barbaric acts of torturing, beheadings and mass murders, Columbus had executed in Hispaniola (modern-day’s G
,reater Antilles
island in West Indies).
Gradually, Columbus & many others became controversial figures and their monuments became a subject of national debate.
This debate has remained especially heated after Dylann Roof killed nine African Americans in a Church in 2015, supposedly to ‘start a race war’.
George Floyd’s death has again brought the issue to the fore and statues of these personalities are being seen as racial symbols.
