Columbus Day

I've read that 5 years before Columbus arrived, the Aztecs sacrificed about 80,000 for the rebuilding of the pyramid at Tenochtitlan.  We all know that many native peoples massacred or enslaved others, what's the moral difference when Columbus did it?  From an intellectual standpoint, that question interests me.

I was reading an article about Columbus Day today and found this part reasonable:

The Americas owe most of our culture — our politics, our freedoms, our languages, our civilization — to Europe and its greatest thinkers and traditions. Christopher Columbus wasn’t the first European to set foot on these shores, but he is as handy a historical spokesman as any for our historic roots in the Old World.

Sure, celebrate indigenous cultures if you like, but it’s preposterous to argue there is nothing worth celebrating about what Columbus represents.

Read the whole thing.