Columbus Day — VOICES for REASON

In recognition of Columbus Day, Fox News Opinion is carrying my essay on the achievements of Western civilization. As I explain there (and at length in my book, The Enemies of Christopher Columbus), the spread of that civilization across a savage wilderness deserves to be celebrated, and Columbus Day is that celebration. The 1492 voyage  was epochal not only because Columbus revealed to Europe the existence of vast lands in this hemisphere, he also showed others how to get here and return safely. The rest is history.

Here are two paragraphs from my article:

Western civilization’s stress on the value of reason led inexorably to its distinctive individualism. Western thinkers were first to declare that every individual, no matter what his skin color or ancestry, is fully human, possessed of reason and free will—a being of self-made character who deserves to be judged accordingly, not as a member of a racial or tribal collective. And thanks to John Locke and the Founding Fathers, individuals were recognized as possessing individual rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness—rights that made slavery indefensible and led to its eradication, at the cost of a civil war.

These are the facts we are no longer taught—and the measure of that educational failure is the disdain with which Columbus’s holiday is regarded in the country that owes its existence to his courage. It is time to take back Columbus Day, as an occasion to publicly rejoice, not in the bloodshed that occurred before Columbus’s arrival and after, but in our commitment to the life-serving values of Western civilization: reason and individualism. We do so by honoring the great explorer who opened the way for that civilization to flourish in the New World.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

At Brown University, the faculty voted earlier this year to ditch Columbus Day in favor of “Fall Weekend.” In years past, Berkeley, California made a similar move to “Indigenous Peoples Day,” and South Dakota now marks “Native American Day.” Even where the Columbus name has been kept, virtually all enthusiasm for celebrating the holiday has disappeared.

Why does an embarrassed, guilty silence descend on the nation each Columbus Day? Because people don’t know how to celebrate the blossoming of Western civilization over the past five centuries without seeming to rejoice in the misery of American Indians. Modern historians have distorted the facts, finding fault with Columbus, America, and Western civilization for evils and tragedies that they did not create—while extolling mysticism and tribalism, which actually are the causes of history’s darkest chapters.

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“Let’s Take Back Columbus Day” is the theme of talks that I’m giving on several college campuses this month. (The official holiday is October 12, the 517th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America.) I spoke at New York University on October 5, and the following events are planned for next week:

• October 12: University of Virginia, Charlottesville – 7 p.m.
• October 13: University of Maryland – College Park, 6:30 p.m.
• October 15: University of Texas – Austin, 8 p.m.

At these events, I give prepared remarks for less than an hour and then spend at least that much time fielding questions. I’m really looking forward to hearing from students and addressing their concerns. It’s not often they are presented with a clear alternative to the multiculturalism and America-hatred so prevalent on college campuses, and it’s always rewarding when I can clear up confusion. For more details, consult the campus events calendar at the Ayn Rand Center’s website.

Meanwhile, here’s the lecture description:

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