Mass elementary school principal has a bug up her ass.

bostonherald- A Somerville principal has opened fire on cherished American holidays, blasting legendary explorer Christopher Columbus for “atrocities” and saying “we need to be careful” about celebrating Thanksgiving in a scathing email to teachers — who are already under orders not to let the kids dress up for Halloween.
“When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples,” wrote Kennedy School Principal Anne Foley. “We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult and a slight to the people he annihilated. On the same lines, we need to be careful around the Thanksgiving Day time as well.”
Mayor Joseph Curtatone said, “She raises a fair point. History is messy.” School Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi said her “intention is to be very, very sensitive to all of the many, many cultures” of Somerville. Foley said she just wanted to “open up a conversation.”
“When I grew up, I was taught from a very European perspective of history and it was both embarrassing and enlightening to me when I learned other perspectives,” Foley said. “I want our children and families to know that we are aware of those other perspectives.”
When pressed on the “atrocities” of Columbus and misdeeds of the Pilgrims, Foley said she wasn’t going to “dwell on that.”
“I have friends who are Native American. I have friends from the islands in the Caribbean. I’ve heard their perspective on different things that we say and do — their versions of history,” said Foley.

Of the Somerville schools’ ban on Halloween costumes, Pierantozzi said, for some students’ families, “Halloween is problematic.” He cited its connections to witchcraft, adding, “Some of our students come from cultures where kids are frightened by it.”

But Somerville mom Michele Campbell called the holiday hoo-ha a joke: “Let the kids enjoy them.”

Anne Foley needs to relax and stop taking things so literally. Sure the anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Western Hemisphere is a national holiday in this country, but it's not because we all love Columbus and want to honor him. It's actually because Italian immigrants in this country observed the day as a celebration of their heritage. That later led to lobbying by the Knights of Columbus to make it a national holiday. The holiday basically has nothing to do with Columbus himself. Principal Foley condemning Columbus day because of Columbus' actions, is like PETA condemning St. Patrick's Day because of St. Patrick's treatment of snakes.

That being said, I can see how Principal Foley could think some people would be against celebrating the holiday. Native Americans probably have a problem with one or two things that happened to them after European colonists arrived. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that the celebration of Columbus Day is pretty low on the list. Probably right below being referred to as native "Americans."

P.S. Not really sure about the origins of Halloween, but what I do know is that parents of students that have a problem with witchcraft are probably going to have a problem with basically everything, so your're probbaly better off not encouraging them.