On October 12, the meeting between the European world and the plurality of Aboriginal cultures of the current American continent is commemorated, which occurred in the year 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived on the shores of America.
Until then, Europe and America did not know each other’s existence. In fact, the Genoese navigator, when charting his route to India, thought that he would reach the west coast of the Asian subcontinent, and that is why he baptized these lands as the West Indies. Never, in life, did he find out that the place he had reached was actually an immense continent, which only afterwards did Américo Vespucio map.
The celebration of October 12 was born with the idea of commemorating the encounter and fusion between different cultures, ways of speaking and understanding, of seeing and imagining the world, which occurred among the American Indians, aboriginal inhabitants of the continent, and Europeans. This day is the birth of a new identity and cultural heritage, product of the colony.
The denomination that has been more used historically (although today many countries do not use it) was the initial “Day of the Race”. It was first used in 1914.
This celebration was created in the beginning by the former Spanish minister Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro, who ultimately was the president of the Ibero-American Union.
However, each country, according to its social, political and historical processes, has adapted the reading and interpretation of the effective historical fact of the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the European man to the American continent according to his conception of history.
Thus, in some countries, October 12 is considered a holiday or holiday, although critics argue that there is nothing to celebrate on this day, as it marked the beginning of the genocide, destruction, humiliation and looting of America by Europe.
For the defenders of celebrating October 12, however, the past cannot be properly valued if it is not understood. Therefore, they consider that October 12, regardless of what happened next, is a milestone in the history of mankind and should be commemorated to remember where we came from.
October 12 is celebrated in Latin American countries, but also in the United States and Spain. Depending on the country, this celebration receives different names. Namely:
| First name | country |
| Race and Discovery Day of America | Mexico |
| Day of race | Honduras |
| Race and Hispanic Day | Colombia |
| Hispanic Day or National Holiday | Spain |
| Hispanic Heritage Day | The Savior |
| Day of the Americas | Uruguay |
| Culture’s Day | Costa Rica |
| Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity | Argentina |
| Identity and Cultural Diversity Day | Dominican Republic |
| Day of the Original Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue | Peru |
| Interculturality and Plurinationality Day | Ecuador |
| Day of the Encounter of Two Worlds | Chile |
| Indigenous resistance Day | Venezuela, Nicaragua |
| Decolonization Day | Bolivia |
| Columbus Day ( Columbus Day ) | U.S |
