GOODBYE COLUMBUS
The dreary October morning heated up a bit when I started chipping about how Columbus Day was a fraud.
I was part of an early morning radio team and in what I thought was harmless chat suggested that if we were going to observe Columbus we should also make accommodation for Leif Erikson or even nameless Chinese sailors who may also have reached the continent before Columbus. I also took offense to the idea that native Americans were "discovered" since they had been here a while. The switchboard almost blew up. The program manager liked it.
Years later when doing a couple of documentary programs for Discovery and TLC we profiled how the Taino people of Hispaniola were ultimately slaughtered and savaged by the "discovering" forces of Christopher "Christ on his Shoulders" Columbus. The Taino were good, trusting people who were exterminated by the representatives of the "advanced" European Court civilizations.
I think Indigenous People Day is a marvelous idea and centuries over due. It can't make up for historic offenses but it can begin to educate succeeding generations.
But I think we should also have an "Explorers Day," celebrating the courage, daring, intelligence and effort of those who have pushed the boundaries. For the sake of this discussion I nominate those who were Americans and those who's efforts touched or opened knowledge about our continent and our life.
Here's a partial list, a conversation starter. Add your own nominees.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, John Glen, Christopher Columbus, Leif Erikson, Magellan, Balboa, Jim Bridger, Richard Byrd, Lewis and Clark, Adriaen Block, Robert Ballard, Cabrillo, Jonas Salk, Watson and Crick, Bell, Edison, and
you get the idea. A day to celebrate the accomplishment of intellect and courage as well as exploration of the planet and life we inhabit.
HANGING A BOOK
Dear friends John and Deanna Schleeter of Indianapolis
provide this next account. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has opened an exhibition by British sculptor Richard Wentworth-False Ceiling.
It is a striking presence in the Efroymson entrance Pavillion.
Thanks to John and Deanna's efforts a copy of my first novel THE SANIBEL ARCANUM hangs there.
As most authors will tell you, there are always extra copies of your books someplace. That someplace for me included John and Deanna's garage. Amongst their distribution efforts is the IMA. I am grateful.
See you down the trail.
One of my daughters argues for Bartolomé de las Casas instead of Columbus. Here was my recent response to her: "Bart was a great man. Chris was a monster. But Chris was the guy who established the European presence in the Americas. Virtually all of my ancestors are European (there probably was a Native American someplace). I have to be at least somewhat grateful to Chris. At the same time, I'm not marching in any Christopher Columbus Day parades. My gratitude to Chris will always be private."
ReplyDeletePrivate it should be.
DeleteColumbus "gave" a young Taino girl to one of the high-ranking officers in his crew. She resisted his advances. He beat her to the point of compliance with a coil of rope. After the beatings, the officer said 'you would have thought she was raised in a bordello"
ReplyDeleteImperialism or Colonialism?
DeleteDoes your recent hanging mean you are "hoist on your own petard" or "hung out to dry". Probably, considering the subject matter (and location) the latter.
ReplyDeleteHung out in the light.
DeleteThere is nothing so explosive as to hoist me. Wasn't that a Civil War reference? An arm that could detonate early?
Let's add Albert Einstein to your good idea list.
ReplyDeleteIndeed he should be there!
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Columbus I think about how much the world was changed by a person who didn't know where he was going or what he was doing.
ReplyDeleteWell, he did stumble upon some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
DeleteIf Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for his unspeakable heinous crimes against humanity.
ReplyDeleteOctober 12, 1492 should be considered one of the darkest days if not the darkest day in the history of North America.
Historians have frequently recorded that Columbus supervised the selling of young native girls into sexual slavery. In 1500, Columbus casually wrote about it glibly in his log.
He forced the peaceful natives work in his gold mines until they died of exhaustion. If an "Indian" worker did not deliver his full quota of gold dust by Columbus' deadline, soldiers would cut off the man's hands and tie them around his neck to send a message. Slavery was so intolerable, 100 of them committed mass suicide.
On his second trip to the New World, Columbus brought cannons and attack dogs. If a native resisted slavery, he would cut off a nose or an ear. If slaves tried to escape, Columbus had them burned alive. Other times, he sent attack dogs to hunt them down, and the dogs would tear off the arms and legs of the screaming natives while they were still alive.
These are just a few of his extraordinary crimes, the rest are too abominable to list!
As we prepared our documentary series for Discovery Communications and TLC, we were frankly amazed to learn the depth of the brutality inflicted on a trusting native population by the Spanish. Sadly most of the history we were "taught" avoided the troubling truth.
DeleteFrequently, those who leave with the "spoils" of war or the rape and pillage of the people and the land are the ones who write the history books. Of course, they will depict a false perception of their exploits, especially when their efforts have been so vile. It is up to future generations to uncover the truth and make sure such evil is never repeated.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom for sharing the truth and making positive recommendations!
Thanks for the kind words and for your own vigilant insight.
Delete