“America celebrates genocide,” read the gigantic poster on the green grass in front of Founders on Oct. 8. On the patio of Founders Hall, the Native American Club and Hispanos Unidos de Guilford (HUG) gathered in a rebellion, as some participants called it, against Columbus Day.
“We are trying to inform people on what really happened with Columbus,” said Christina Somerville, first-year and secretary of the Native American Club.
The problem these two clubs have with Columbus Day is not the day itself but the institution of race that Columbus created. Another issue that HUG and the Native American Club have with Columbus is the number of people that he and his followers allegedly beat, stoned, raped, and killed.
“Some evidence says that there were as many as 150 million (native) people living here and its now one and a half million people living here so that would be the largest genocide in the world,” said Marshall Jefferies, president of the Native American club, who is also part Native American.
“My tribe is now considered an extinct tribe because of Columbus,” said Andrew Slater, a first-year participant of Anti-Columbus Day.
At the rebellion, there were many people making shirts depicting slogans against Columbus. The shirts read anything from “I really think Columbus killed a few people” to “Columbus isn’t my homeboy.” Some people made informative shirts while others wrote obscenities about Columbus.
There were 150 shirts made in total and many of them were seen all over campus for the day.
Originally, there was supposed to be a speaker against Columbus. However, the clubs decided that making shirts and having music was enough. Despite not having a speaker, there were many participants supporting the protest.
“I think it’s really interesting how the textbooks paint him as the victor when all this really happened,” said Kirsten Williams, a participating first-year.
Even President Kent Chabotar supported the protest although he did not participate.
“The good thing about this is that it gives two sides to the story,” Chabotar said.