Why do we celebrate Columbus Day? This has been a question that has come to the front of a lot of people’s minds, as it does yearly, following the national holiday this past Monday. Columbus Day has turned into just another reason for students not to go to school but do they truly understand the holiday’s significance or lack thereof?In very simple terms, Columbus Day is meant to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ great discovery of America. This is what most students learn in any typical history class. Seeing that most people assume that the authority figure is automatically correct and do not question the information that they might present to them, it makes sense that people just accept Columbus’ “discovery” as truth. Historians have proven that Columbus was not the first to arrive to the Americas. In fact, he thought he was in India which is why he referred to the Native Americans, the people who were already the inhabitants of the land who Columbus used as slaves, as Indians. There are people who feel that Columbus Day should not be a day we celebrate. Julia Medina ‘20 stated “I’m against Columbus Day because everyone knows he wasn’t the first person to discover America yet we celebrate him because he was a white man…it started an ugly cycle of racism in my opinion. I don’t think we should have ever overlooked the Native Americans…” The debate as to whether or not Columbus Day should remain has been a topic of discussion for a long time and will continue to be until action is taken against its existence.