The date of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas is celebrated in Central and South America as the Día de la Raza (“day of the race”), commemorating the first encounters of Europe and Native Americans. It is a celebration of the diversity among Native Americans and Europeans. 

The day commemorates the date when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas. In the USA it is observed on the Second Monday in October. 

Columbus’ voyages across the Atlantic Ocean initiated the European exploration and colonization of the Americas. 

While the first voyage in 1492 was immensely significant, Columbus did not actually reach the American mainland until his 3rd voyage in 1498. Instead, while trying to find a sea route to India, he made landfall on an island in the Bahamas that he named San Salvador. 

He was also not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, with the indisputable evidence of Norsemen having reached the mainland of North America centuries before. 

The day was first celebrated in Argentina in 1917, Venezuela in 1921, Chile in 1923, Colombia in 1921, and Mexico in 1928. 

The term “La Raza” is believed to have been coined by Spanish minister Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro, who, as president of the Ibero-American Union, initiated the first celebration in 1914 under the name “Feast of the Race”. In the 1925 book, La Raza Cósmica, which was written by the Mexican writer José Vasconcelos, he states his view that a continuous mixing of races had begun in the Latin world, which would result in a new race. 

This concept is considered offensive to the indigenous community, for many believe that it forces the Hispanic heritage unto them. Due to the controversy surrounding the word “La Raza”, some countries like Venezuela have coined the term “Día de la Resistencia Indígena” to highlight the resistance of the Indigenous people and their refusal to yield to the imposition of European culture. 

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