Hacker News Reader

Sure. If you apply our standards, though, you might want to decry many of your founding fathers as well: Washington, Madison, Jefferson ("All men are created equal"), John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin - they all held slaves at some point.

So, should you rename the capital, the state, and all the avenues and parks that are named after these people?

View on HN

Did Washington cut off the noses and ears of those natives that tried to stop him raping their wives as punishment. Did Jefferson cut off the hands of those natives who did not mine enough gold that month in forced labour camps while also creating the encomienda system? Did Franklin reduce the population of Haiti from ~3m to 12,000 in just 20 years? Does John Hancock hold the record for transporting more slaves into slavery than any other person in history?

I think Columbus set himself well apart from the founding fathers on any number of scores and even in his own time and with his own supporters (Queen Isabella of Spain for instance) they thought he had gone too far

Reply on news.ycombinator.com