As new information about significant people, places and events surface in our society, there has been a recent call for the amending of previously held beliefs or historical “truths”. This can even extend to requests to take down or destroy symbols of history, such as statues of historical figures.  

An example of this is the recent reframing of Christopher Columbus as a great explorer, who discovered “America”. New information, including the savage treatment and genocide of the indigenous peoples already living on the land, has created a call to cease to acknowledge the symbolic holiday of Columbus Day and instead to call it, Indigenous Peoples Day. 

This topic raises conflict for persons who hold parts of their learned history as truth and may fear the loss of positive depictions of persons they held in high regard. 

This act can be empowering for previously unrepresented groups. It can also take away from a group’s perceived culture. There is currently no universally formal structure for reviewing the accuracy of historical events or newly surfaced information and the use of social media as a primary platform for communicating news creates uncertainty and further conflict.

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