Dominic Candeloro, a former history and Italian-American studies professor, said that explorer Christopher Columbus’ legacy is not clearly an evil one, as some would argue. Candeloro (below), who also led the effort to create an Italian-American studies program at Loyola University Chicago, recently told The College Fix via phone interview that people should be careful when applying today’s values to someone who lived 500 years ago.

“I would say that it’s reading history backwards and applying today’s standards to someone 500 years ago,” Candeloro said when asked about accusations of genocide against Columbus. "More than that, it’s a little bit naive, the history of people and history in general is a story of one group overpowering another or not. "