How Leif Erikson Became A Legend

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Given how terrible Christopher Columbus was, Columbus Day has become a controversial holiday, and for good reason. Thankfully, in recent years, an increasing number of cities and states have moved to re-brand the holiday as Indigenous People's Day, thereby acknowledging real history instead of whitewashing the sins of the past. However, even putting aside the false and white supremacy-tinged notion of any European "discovering" America, many contemporary people have wondered why Columbus got a day in the first place, instead of Leif Erikson.

Here's the thing. If you look at October 9th on your calendar, you'll see that there is a Leif Erikson Day. However, as Time Magazine points out, the history of this day, sadly, has its own racism problems. 

Long story short, in the early 20th century, there was a big movement to recognize Erikson over Columbus, not because of the facts, but instead, because the Scandinavian Erikson was supposedly "whiter" than the Italian Columbus. Keep in mind, xenophobia and racism were big problems back then, much as they are today, but the "not fully white" immigrants being targeted in this particular instance were Italians. Thus, while there was a big push for a Leif Erikson Day over a Columbus Day, the reasons for this push were deeply troubling ... and ironic, considering the horrifyingly racist crimes that Columbus himself, as pictured above, was guilty of perpetrating upon Native Americans. 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2Bkmtrbm9fnby4ecueoJ9llae2rL%2FOp2SbnZOWuqZ5wGajnp%2BVo7Fw