The second Monday of October remains controversial.

Should it be called Indigenous People’s Day or Columbus Day?

This will be the second year that nationally it has been known as Indigenous People’s Day. Columbus Day had been a national holiday since 1934.

However, President Benjamin Harrison in 1892 first celebrated Discovery Day on the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. In part this was to appease the Italian-American community that had been facing unrest and discrimination after a large influx of immigrants were coming to the United States.

While many of us were taught that Columbus was a good person, this has turned out be another fallacy in our history books.

The truth is he and his cronies kidnapped, enslaved, raped, and abused the indigenous people who lived in the Americas long before these Europeans reportedly “discovered” it.

About 20 states still call it Columbus Day. That needs to change.

It’s time our history and celebrations are seen from a perspective other than those of the white male conquerors.