Yesterday was Columbus day, indigenous peoples day in some states, and I heard the annual complaining about Christopher Columbus. Yes it's true he was no saint. Yes, it is true he was European, an Italian guy, and sailed for Spain. He ran into Hispaniola mistaking it for the East Indies and killed and enslaved the natives there. Later some of the Spanish crewmembers from his ships stayed on Hispaniola using the natives as forced laborers. These Spanish folks also transmitted European diseases to these folks and it wiped them out completely. It was genocide by disease. Certainly it wasn't part of the plan, after all the labor force all died, but that's what happened. That took place about 500 years ago. Three hundred years after that took place some Italian people in America decided to celebrate Columbus and his voyages of discovery. Putting a " spin " on history the story was told. As the years went by Columbus day became a good celebration, an excuse to party a bit. Then, it was made a national holiday. Everyone loves a national holiday. Now, some have decided that Columbus is not deserving of a holiday. These folks are not proposing doing away with the holiday however, just renaming it. Hey, that's what we do these days. We just call things by a different name and that's makes it alright. Columbus day, the actual day, was October the 12. In 1971, it was included in the holiday realignment act. Basically we decided Columbus deserved no more than a three day weekend. Now we have decided he shouldn't get that either but we want to keep the holiday anyway. Hey, thanks Chris, we know you were a miserable person but appreciate the holiday buddy.
The reason for renaming Columbus day to indigenous peoples day is to reflect what really happened. That is the reason I keep hearing. We shouldn't celebrate the fact that Columbus never set foot in North America, that he enslaved the people of Hispaniola, and that he really never knew where he was at all. No, we should remember all that terrible history and celebrate that instead. We'll call it indigenous people day to make it sound better. Forget about Columbus, we are celebrating the American Natives that never saw or heard of Columbus in North America, at least not until the 1790's or so anyway. Want to be mad at a people that first interacted with the North American natives? Take a good look at the Spanish. Yes, it was the Spanish. Yeah, I know, more white folk and all the white folks are bad. At least that is the storyline today. They call those people White apologists. It's alright as long as you say you're sorry isn't it? Doesn't that negate history? Some folks sure seem to think so. Well, I'm not apologizing for what my ancestors may or may not have done, I wasn't there. The goal is to learn from that history, not apologize for it. I'm thinking us white people have made pretty good strides in the last five hundred years or so. We're not perfect but we're humans after all. Other races have pretty much done the same thing as the white folks, just on a smaller scale. Why they didn't go sailing around and conqueror people I couldn't say. Guess they just liked to stay home, on their own continent's and Islands. I can't say as I've read an explanation for that, have you? Could it be all the other races were morally superior to the Europeans? Is that why they never " migrated " anywhere else? Well because isn't that what history teaches? The Europeans migrated to the Americas first via the land bridge and later by ship. Oh, I forgot, today we call that invading a foreign nation, although there was no nation to invade. Well, unless we were seeking refuge that is, that's another scenario altogether. But, then I read where man came up out of Africa to populate the world. The latest story has them heading to India first and spreading out more from there. That would explain why they never migrated after that, what we Europeans call, exploring. They were already there! Must have gotten the word back to the home folks to not bother.
Well, Columbus day is behind us for another year. One day it will not be mentioned much, becoming Indigenous peoples day. That's alright, I remember when Memorial day was called Decoration day too. Just a sign of the times. Wonder when Thanksgiving day is going to be renamed. The natives don't have much to be thankful for when it comes to that bunch do they? That history has been written and rewritten several times already. I'm sticking with the Squanto version. Pilgrims and turkeys and that whole scene. It's a comfort. As far as I'm concerned it was a mutual exchange. We needed them and they wanted some of our tools. There was wrongdoing between both sides. In my experience it doesn't matter a whole lot about race when it comes to money. People will interact with each other for the purpose of gaining wealth, whatever form that wealth may take. They will also take advantage, cheat, or otherwise manipulate each other to gain an advantage. That's what people do.
In the meantime I'll see what else I can find to offend me in some fashion. If I'm offended that means I'm intelligent. Smarter than you anyway. Columbus, really, what were you thinking?
The reason for renaming Columbus day to indigenous peoples day is to reflect what really happened. That is the reason I keep hearing. We shouldn't celebrate the fact that Columbus never set foot in North America, that he enslaved the people of Hispaniola, and that he really never knew where he was at all. No, we should remember all that terrible history and celebrate that instead. We'll call it indigenous people day to make it sound better. Forget about Columbus, we are celebrating the American Natives that never saw or heard of Columbus in North America, at least not until the 1790's or so anyway. Want to be mad at a people that first interacted with the North American natives? Take a good look at the Spanish. Yes, it was the Spanish. Yeah, I know, more white folk and all the white folks are bad. At least that is the storyline today. They call those people White apologists. It's alright as long as you say you're sorry isn't it? Doesn't that negate history? Some folks sure seem to think so. Well, I'm not apologizing for what my ancestors may or may not have done, I wasn't there. The goal is to learn from that history, not apologize for it. I'm thinking us white people have made pretty good strides in the last five hundred years or so. We're not perfect but we're humans after all. Other races have pretty much done the same thing as the white folks, just on a smaller scale. Why they didn't go sailing around and conqueror people I couldn't say. Guess they just liked to stay home, on their own continent's and Islands. I can't say as I've read an explanation for that, have you? Could it be all the other races were morally superior to the Europeans? Is that why they never " migrated " anywhere else? Well because isn't that what history teaches? The Europeans migrated to the Americas first via the land bridge and later by ship. Oh, I forgot, today we call that invading a foreign nation, although there was no nation to invade. Well, unless we were seeking refuge that is, that's another scenario altogether. But, then I read where man came up out of Africa to populate the world. The latest story has them heading to India first and spreading out more from there. That would explain why they never migrated after that, what we Europeans call, exploring. They were already there! Must have gotten the word back to the home folks to not bother.
Well, Columbus day is behind us for another year. One day it will not be mentioned much, becoming Indigenous peoples day. That's alright, I remember when Memorial day was called Decoration day too. Just a sign of the times. Wonder when Thanksgiving day is going to be renamed. The natives don't have much to be thankful for when it comes to that bunch do they? That history has been written and rewritten several times already. I'm sticking with the Squanto version. Pilgrims and turkeys and that whole scene. It's a comfort. As far as I'm concerned it was a mutual exchange. We needed them and they wanted some of our tools. There was wrongdoing between both sides. In my experience it doesn't matter a whole lot about race when it comes to money. People will interact with each other for the purpose of gaining wealth, whatever form that wealth may take. They will also take advantage, cheat, or otherwise manipulate each other to gain an advantage. That's what people do.
In the meantime I'll see what else I can find to offend me in some fashion. If I'm offended that means I'm intelligent. Smarter than you anyway. Columbus, really, what were you thinking?
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