Monday will be Columbus day. A holiday now shrouded in controversary. I was taught that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Indeed he did, arriving in what we now call the Americas. Interesting to note is Columbus never set foot in North America. No, he landed in the Bahamas and later Hispaniola, never getting even close to what we now call America. He believed he had discovered a new route to Asia. Even though other navigators knew differently, Columbus didn't believe them. There are those that say Columbus had secured charts showing this " new world " and was following them. Columbus was far from the first to sail over here. The Vikings had done so hundreds of years earlier. But we celebrate Columbus, at least we used to, for his accomplishments.
The first celebration of Columbus in the United States took place in New York city in 1792. The idea was to celebrate Italian-American heritage. Yes, all the way back in 1792 people were concerned with their heritage. It was a group called the Colombian Order that first celebrated what was to become Columbus day. It was supposed to be about Italian heritage more than the man. It was Roosevelt in 1937 that established Columbus day as a national holiday. And here we are less than a hundred years later talking about doing away with it altogether. Well, several states have renamed the holiday Indigenous peoples day. The intent being to honor those folks. My thinking is, if I were an Indigenous person I wouldn't want a recycled holiday, I'd want one of my own. Not sure what day you would pick though seeing as those people were here thousands of years before Columbus and the Vikings. No denying the treatment of the indigenous peoples Columbus encountered was completely abhorrent. Of course Columbus never encountered any of the indigenous peoples in north America but we'll set that fact aside. It was later Europeans that interacted with north Americans but we'll blame the Italian guy instead. Seems fair enough.
Now I'm all for the telling of history in a factual way. Columbus wasn't all I was taught he was. Sensibilities were different back then, Fact is Europeans were writing the books and as we all know the victor writes the narrative. It has always been that way and I suspect will remain that way in the future as well. Now we have Europeans writing the history books as a sort of atonement for the misdeeds of the past, by pointing out we know we did wrong, and promising not to do that again. It would be interesting to read what is written about today a hundred years from now. Well I guess that isn't going to be an issue what with global warming destroying the world in the next twelve years and all that, but I won't go into that. You know Columbus knew he wouldn't sail off the edge of the earth. There are those that still insist the earth is flat to this day though, so. Wonder why the name isn't changed to Italian-American heritage day, you know, what it originally was intended to recognize? If you want to blame anyone for the interaction with north American indigenous peoples shouldn't the British carry that blame? After all , it was they that arrived in Jamestown in 1607, 115 years after that Italian fella Columbus. Why blame him? There are numerous other lands that he is indeed responsible for! What we call the United States isn't one of them however.
I don't know, it just seems a bit strange to me. There are those attempting to rewrite history that was written incorrectly in the first place. Here in the United States of America we were taught about Columbus discovering America. He didn't. Yet that was the answer that got you a hundred on the test. Columbus discovered America in 1492 was the response. We weren't told much else. Oh we were told how he went to Ferdinand and Isabella to get the money for the voyage. He was an Italian guy but was financed by the Spanish, I don't recall why though. We celebrated Columbus day in October because that is the month he arrived. Later, when we were older, we were told of some of the atrocities he committed. We were also told that most of the " civilized " world was doing the same thing. We called it exploration and bringing knowledge and culture to the heathens of the world!
Today we are teaching the children that Columbus was nothing more than a thug that destroyed millions of lives. No holiday for him! We will instead celebrate and recognize the Indigenous peoples. We don't call them Indians anymore, that's offensive why? Because Columbus thought he was in the east Indies and called those indigenous peoples Indians. He wasn't talking about North American indigenous peoples however, he was never here! It was the Europeans, predominately British, that called them Indians. But don't allow the truth to get in the way of a good apology. Sorry, it was that terrible Italian guy that started all of this, it's his fault. Here, take his holiday as a token of our repentance.
I'm not defending Columbus or anything that he did. It was wrong, we all know it was wrong, but it is what happened. A day was set aside to honor the heritage of Italian-Americans. They had chosen Christopher Columbus as their champion. Why did they choose him? He was the greatest explorer of his time. A hero to the nation that wouldn't finance his voyage. But, he discovered America! That was the belief, the teaching at the time. Italian-Americans felt they should be recognized as they had and were suffering from prejudice. Not unlike some ethnic groups today, the Italians were being marginalized and treated unfairly. They were, after all, darker skinned and Catholics! It took 155 years but in 1937 FDR gave them a holiday named Columbus day. Now less than a hundred years later we are taking it away. What goes around comes around I suppose. What group is enjoying favor today?
The first celebration of Columbus in the United States took place in New York city in 1792. The idea was to celebrate Italian-American heritage. Yes, all the way back in 1792 people were concerned with their heritage. It was a group called the Colombian Order that first celebrated what was to become Columbus day. It was supposed to be about Italian heritage more than the man. It was Roosevelt in 1937 that established Columbus day as a national holiday. And here we are less than a hundred years later talking about doing away with it altogether. Well, several states have renamed the holiday Indigenous peoples day. The intent being to honor those folks. My thinking is, if I were an Indigenous person I wouldn't want a recycled holiday, I'd want one of my own. Not sure what day you would pick though seeing as those people were here thousands of years before Columbus and the Vikings. No denying the treatment of the indigenous peoples Columbus encountered was completely abhorrent. Of course Columbus never encountered any of the indigenous peoples in north America but we'll set that fact aside. It was later Europeans that interacted with north Americans but we'll blame the Italian guy instead. Seems fair enough.
Now I'm all for the telling of history in a factual way. Columbus wasn't all I was taught he was. Sensibilities were different back then, Fact is Europeans were writing the books and as we all know the victor writes the narrative. It has always been that way and I suspect will remain that way in the future as well. Now we have Europeans writing the history books as a sort of atonement for the misdeeds of the past, by pointing out we know we did wrong, and promising not to do that again. It would be interesting to read what is written about today a hundred years from now. Well I guess that isn't going to be an issue what with global warming destroying the world in the next twelve years and all that, but I won't go into that. You know Columbus knew he wouldn't sail off the edge of the earth. There are those that still insist the earth is flat to this day though, so. Wonder why the name isn't changed to Italian-American heritage day, you know, what it originally was intended to recognize? If you want to blame anyone for the interaction with north American indigenous peoples shouldn't the British carry that blame? After all , it was they that arrived in Jamestown in 1607, 115 years after that Italian fella Columbus. Why blame him? There are numerous other lands that he is indeed responsible for! What we call the United States isn't one of them however.
I don't know, it just seems a bit strange to me. There are those attempting to rewrite history that was written incorrectly in the first place. Here in the United States of America we were taught about Columbus discovering America. He didn't. Yet that was the answer that got you a hundred on the test. Columbus discovered America in 1492 was the response. We weren't told much else. Oh we were told how he went to Ferdinand and Isabella to get the money for the voyage. He was an Italian guy but was financed by the Spanish, I don't recall why though. We celebrated Columbus day in October because that is the month he arrived. Later, when we were older, we were told of some of the atrocities he committed. We were also told that most of the " civilized " world was doing the same thing. We called it exploration and bringing knowledge and culture to the heathens of the world!
Today we are teaching the children that Columbus was nothing more than a thug that destroyed millions of lives. No holiday for him! We will instead celebrate and recognize the Indigenous peoples. We don't call them Indians anymore, that's offensive why? Because Columbus thought he was in the east Indies and called those indigenous peoples Indians. He wasn't talking about North American indigenous peoples however, he was never here! It was the Europeans, predominately British, that called them Indians. But don't allow the truth to get in the way of a good apology. Sorry, it was that terrible Italian guy that started all of this, it's his fault. Here, take his holiday as a token of our repentance.
I'm not defending Columbus or anything that he did. It was wrong, we all know it was wrong, but it is what happened. A day was set aside to honor the heritage of Italian-Americans. They had chosen Christopher Columbus as their champion. Why did they choose him? He was the greatest explorer of his time. A hero to the nation that wouldn't finance his voyage. But, he discovered America! That was the belief, the teaching at the time. Italian-Americans felt they should be recognized as they had and were suffering from prejudice. Not unlike some ethnic groups today, the Italians were being marginalized and treated unfairly. They were, after all, darker skinned and Catholics! It took 155 years but in 1937 FDR gave them a holiday named Columbus day. Now less than a hundred years later we are taking it away. What goes around comes around I suppose. What group is enjoying favor today?
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