Happy Columbus Day!

[macshorty]

Yeah, introducing European-style mass slavery and genocide to the Americas is totally something worth being proud of... I mean absolutely no disrespect to those of Italian heritage but Columbus should be remembered for more than "discovering" America. Lets keep in mind the Taino and Arawak peoples of the Caribbean who were raped, slaughtered and enslaved by European "explorers".

More recently and more importantly, today is, in many places, a day set aside to honor the indigenous people of the Americas, to more fully understand and discuss the horrible events which transpired at the coming of Cristobal Columbo, the "Christ-Bringer Colonizer", and to consider the effects of imperial expansionism on native peoples the world over, an imperialism which continues even today in "third-world" countries all over the globe.

Columbus was no hero. He was a greedy opportunist who accidentally sailed to the wrong place and brutally subjugated the people he found there who welcomed him with open arms.





Antonio, you do look sharp though.

Conquer or be conquered!!

[Tartan Tess]

I like what Riverkilt said about the old and new Columbus day. I remember when Lincoln and Washington had separate days off from school.
Nevada doesn't celebrate Columbus day, and I am sure there are other states that doesn't either. But, like so many other things in this crazy country now, everything has to be politically correct and able to be made into a 3 day week-end.
In school, I learned about Columbus because it was a brave thing to jump in a boat and go into the unknown (kinda like astronauts)
I like Antonio's idea as another great excuse for a day for wearing a kilt!

[macwilkin]

Yeah, introducing European-style mass slavery and genocide to the Americas is totally something worth being proud of... I mean absolutely no disrespect to those of Italian heritage but Columbus should be remembered for more than "discovering" America. Lets keep in mind the Taino and Arawak peoples of the Caribbean who were raped, slaughtered and enslaved by European "explorers".

More recently and more importantly, today is, in many places, a day set aside to honor the indigenous people of the Americas, to more fully understand and discuss the horrible events which transpired at the coming of Cristobal Columbo, the "Christ-Bringer Colonizer", and to consider the effects of imperial expansionism on native peoples the world over, an imperialism which continues even today in "third-world" countries all over the globe.

Columbus was no hero. He was a greedy opportunist who accidentally sailed to the wrong place and brutally subjugated the people he found there who welcomed him with open arms.





Antonio, you do look sharp though.

Of course, Native Americans never did any of those things, because they were perfect "noble savages"...can we say The Aztecs?

Let's save the Political Correctness, please. Columbus was a human being, and none of us are perfect.

Sorry, mods, but I had to respond to this one. I abhor political correctness.

T.

[Woodsheal]

Of course, Native Americans never did any of those things, because they were perfect "noble savages"...can we say The Aztecs?

Let's save the Political Correctness, please. Columbus was a human being, and none of us are perfect.

Sorry, mods, but I had to respond to this one. I abhor political correctness.

T.

Right on target, Todd!

[McClef]

This thread is in danger of rapidly deteriorating into the rights and wrongs of past centuries.

Please stay on topic.

[EHCAlum]

When I lived in Charlottesville, we never got Columbus Day off. We always got April 13th off.

My UVA brethren should know the importance of that date.

[AstroBen]

Columbus was no hero. He was a greedy opportunist who accidentally sailed to the wrong place and brutally subjugated the people he found there who welcomed him with open arms.

If I may add a quote here: "It's not personal; it's just business."

But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, it is important to remember that course of history, and certainly the lives of many on this forum, would be decidedly different without the influence of this man.

So, Happy Columbus Day.

[bdkilted]

Antonio, I don't want to burst your bubble, but some of more recent research indicates that Christobal Columbo was a Jewish convert to Catholism (as was his father). But, the family did live in Italy, so I guess it is OK to call them Italians.
As to the Vegan's comments- don't confuse Columbus with the greedy Spanish aristocrocy that came with him. History shows that while he certainly hoped to make some money off of this adventure, his other motivation was to bring Christianity to the new world. He tried to get the Spanish to stop mistreating the natives. Don't be too quick to fall for the revisionist history that is spread in the media.

[Antonio]

hah hah! Thanks for *not* bursting my bubble guys! I'd vote for a national Spaghetti and Meatballs Day in the USA but then folks would just say the Chinese invented it...

[Vegan Scot]

Just posting this and I'm done.

Howard Zinn was one of the most highly respected, reputable and incisive historians of the modern world and wrote extensively on a myriad of topics. To boot he is even-handed and objective about matters of history. I'll have to look and see if he's ever written anything about kilts.

Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress