Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Monday is … what? Don’t say Columbus Day!

“Christopher Columbus and his men are responsible for genocide, rape, enslavement, torture, and the start of the Atlantic slave trade,” said Michelle Cruz Hine of Springfield Learning Academy at Monday’s District 186 school board meeting. “In fact, he never set foot in the United States.

“Within one month he wrote in his journal, ‘My men brought seven head of women, small and large, and three children.’ This meant that he kidnapped ten Taino people.”

Superintendent Jennifer Gill said the district is asking state organizations what can be done.