NASA students in Michigan hold Columbus Forum

This from Michigan

Columbus Day sparks debate over explorer's legacy

Writing in his journal two days after setting foot in the Americas for the first time, Christopher Columbus came to a conclusion about the native peoples — “I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased.”

More than a year after his arrival in 1492, Columbus returned to the Americas with 17 ships and 1,200 men, enslaving the natives in search of gold. With his expedition also came disease, decimating the population. By 1555, some claim that two million natives on the island of Hispaniola were nearly reduced to extinction.

And for this cruelty, America awards Columbus with a holiday, said Matt Stehney, president of the Native American Student Association. full article