Día de la raza

We don't have school on Monday for Columbus Day, but in many Spanish speaking countries the holiday is called día de la raza. The day marks Columbus's arrival in the New World and the first meeting of Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the New World. Many view Columbus's arrival positively, but there are others for whom it meant the destruction of their lives as they knew them. Sometime this weekend, think about what Columbus Day meant for Europeans in 1492 and what it meant for the indigenous people too.