Also known as Columbus Day and Native American Day, October 12 is traditionally celebrated throughout the Americas as the day Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.

One one hand, Día de la Raza is the celebration of the Hispanic heritage of Latin America and brings into it all the ethnic and cultural influences making it distinctive. On the other, Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day are reviled in places because he is blamed for bringing the evils of slavery, the encomienda system and the diseases of Europe to Latin America.

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Find out more about Christopher Columbus.