Did you celebrate Columbus Day last week? ( Ooops, it’s now Indigenous Peoples Day.) That’s right. We changed the name, and now celebrate those Indian tribes Columbus encountered on his discovery of the Americas, a number of which were cannibals. So let’s give a one hand clap for all those indigenous groups that ate, raped and massacred numerous explorers coming to the new world.
OK, OK, Columbus was a brutal voyager. But all sides were pretty much so back in that day. Actually, Columbus himself was a fairly unimportant character as to why there is a national day named for him to begin with. And would you believe that like so many other major events that affected the development of America, the idea of Columbus Day all began in Louisiana.
Columbus Day becoming a national holiday was essentially an accident. Here’s what actually happened. After the Civil War (that by the way was kicked off at Fort Sumter by Louisiana Brig. Gen. P.G.T Beauregard’ and his Confederate forces), there was widespread immigration into the United States. Large numbers of Italians flocked to New Orleans, the cosmopolitan city of the south. These new immigrants worked for low wages and kept to themselves along with maintaining the Italian language, strong family ties, and a resilient Catholic faith. They were resented by many New Orleanians already living there.