Today is Columbus day. It is also indigenous peoples day for the more progressive folks among us. A sort of national apology day. I'm not sorry. Columbus arrived in the America's on this date in 1492, landing in the Bahamas. No, he wasn't going on vacation. As with most things his concern was commerce, with making a buck. That was the reason for the voyage of exploration. Columbus never did set foot on the north American continent. Still, all the children know in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That was about as much as we knew. As many of us thought the Pilgrims were also involved in all of that. They didn't arrive until 1620 however. There were others before that, the lost colony and all of that. Anyway, history and the telling of it is always dependent upon the present. Kids today are certainly being told a different version of history and Columbus than I was.
The story of how Columbus day became a celebration is seldom told. I know I hadn't heard much about that. In brief it was because Italian- Americans were being discriminated against. In 1891 eleven Italian-Americans were lynched in New Orleans. That occurred simply because there was anti Italian sentiments in the country, not unlike the violence and hate faced by African-Americans. Yes, prejudice and hate knows no color or nationalities, it is just ugly. I response in 1892 President Harrison created Columbus day. During WW2 Italians in America were even targeted as alien enemies! They weren't put into camps like the Japanese citizens were, but they were on the list. Then there is the part about St. Tammany and the New York city Italians. I won't attempt a history of that.
The whole deal about Columbus day was simply to recognize that it was an Italian sea captain that made the first voyage to what we know as the America's. They weren't the America's until after he discovered them. Yes, I know, there were many before him that most likely had voyaged here, knew all about it, the Norsemen or whoever. That's not the point. Amerigo Vespucci was the navigator and the America's got their name from him. It's all very complicated. Columbus day was created as a sort of "reparation" for the prejudice and maltreatment of Italian immigrants. For me it's akin to Juneteenth. Same sentiment anyway.
Columbus gets blamed for every bad thing that has occurred in the America's. It's all his fault! Never mind all the other civilizations that lived in the America's before they were called the America's that warred against each other, taking captives, slaves, goods, agricultural products and land. Nothing bad ever happened before Columbus showed up. That's the history being taught today as presented by the fact checkers. We are all about the "truth" today. The best way to tell the truth is to place blame on yourself, that way you aren't showing any prejudice.
So the white guys are busy apologizing for everything that has ever happened to other cultures, races or nationalities. Except this white guy. I'm not apologizing for anything. I firmly believe all men are created equal and all men share equally for the good and the bad. That is what those writing our constitution thought as well, it is exactly what they meant with those famous words. Now circumstances are not always equal, neither is opportunity. Some of us are born with extraordinary talents while some are just idiots. It just happens that way, no one is to blame for that. Columbus isn't to blame. He was simply a man of his time. He was mean. Yeah, okay. Strangely the kindest, most understanding and benevolent man that ever walked the earth is being denied by the same people upset at Columbus. There is no Jesus Christ, trust the science. I have to ask one question, who's fault is that? Someone has to be blamed, it's the only way. Never accept the truth, rewrite the narrative, retell the story, and above all, apologize.
A portrait of what is believed to be Columbus.
We don't know for sure no authentic picture exists.
He does look mean though.
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