COLUMBUS DAY – A HOLIDAY FOR A SAVAGE

So today is Columbus Day. What an utter farce. This is the LAST person this country should have any sort of a holiday for. (And yes, this is a court holiday, at the very least.)

In the book, Lies my Teacher Told Me, there’s a chapter or two about this…ignoble traveler. How, whenever he landed, a specific script was read (in Spanish) of how God claimed this land for Spain, how he gave nine-year-old children to his crew to do as they wished…there’s a list of atrocities, too long to enumerate here.

The answers.com entry says this:” Columbus was not the first European mariner to sail to the New World—the Vikings set up colonies (c.1000) in Greenland and Newfoundland (see Leif Ericsson and Thorfinn Karlsefni)—but his voyages mark the beginning of continuous European efforts to explore and colonize the Americas. Although historians for centuries disputed his skill as a navigator, it has been proved that with only dead reckoning Columbus was unsurpassed in charting and finding his way about unknown seas. During the 1980s and 90s the long-standing image of Columbus as a hero was tarnished by criticism from Native Americans and revisionist historians. With the 500th anniversary of his first voyage in 1992, interpretations of his motives and impact varied. Although he was always judged to be vain, ambitious, desirous of wealth, and ruthless, traditional historians viewed his voyages as opening the New World to Western civilization and Christianity. For revisionist historians, however, his voyages symbolize the more brutal aspects of European colonization and represent the beginning of the destruction of Native American peoples and culture. One point of agreement among all interpretations is that his voyages were one of the turning points in history.”

Revisionist? Hmmm… Same entry, a little further on…

“During his time as governor and viceroy Columbus virtually ruled his domain as a tyrant. Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava, and Columbus' successor as Governor from 1500-1502, was charged with investigating Columbus' rule in the name of the Spanish Crown. His 48 page report — derived from the testimonies of 23 people who had seen or heard about the treatment meted out by Columbus and his brothers — had originally been lost for centuries, but was rediscovered in 2005 in the Spanish archives in Valladolid. It proved to contain an account of Columbus' 7-year reign as the first Governor of the Indies. According to his report Columbus was known both by friends and enemies for the atrociously harsh punishments he imposed on his subjects. He ordered a man who was caught stealing corn to have his nose and ears cut off and auctioned off as a slave. A woman who suggested Columbus was of lowly birth was punished by Columbus' brother Bartolomé: she was stripped naked and paraded around the colony on a mule. When Bartolomé had her tongue cut out, Columbus congratulated him for defending the family's honour. Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian states: "Even those who loved him [Columbus] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place." Columbus' and his brothers' leadership was tyrannical and greedy, and life in the colony was horrifying and hard. [2]“

So, yes, we owe old Chris a vote of thanks, otherwise we’d not be here (he did set into motion a number of events that helped form this country). But he wasn’t some noble, courageous visionary: he was a vicious scumbag, entrenched in the savage racism of his time, another white European hoisted on his scabrous petard. So the vote is the bare minimum.

I say we take this fucktard off the calendar. And amend the textbooks, to show the raw truth of this ruthless adventurer.

Credit where credit is due, I always say.

I love my country, but sometimes? We honor people who don’t deserve it.

/autorant off.