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Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
Sat Oct 10, 2015, 04:51 PM Oct 2015

Columbus Day is a reminder that nothing exists until a white guy “discovers” it

Columbus Day is a reminder that nothing exists until a white guy “discovers” it



Written by
Jake Flanagin
4 hours ago

At this point, it’s pretty much common knowledge that Christopher Columbus was not, in fact, the first European to come to the New World. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of Norse settlements in Newfoundland, Canada, dating as far back as the ninth century. Meanwhile recently uncovered DNA evidence suggests Polynesians landed on South American shores almost a century before the Nina, the Pinta, or the Santa Maria.

Yet to suggest that any of these parties—Columbus or the Vikings or the Polynesians—“discovered” the Americas is not simply revisionism; it’s flat-out incorrect.

We know that Native Americans were living in the Americas for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. We know their ancestors crossed the Bering Land Bridge from northeastern Asia, and in the ensuing 10,000 to 15,000 years populated the New World with civilizations as diverse and distinct as the Mayans, the Inuit, and the Mapuche.

And yet, we still honor Christopher Columbus, an Italian in the employ of the Spanish crown, for ostensibly “discovering” the Americas. Why? Because our historiographical language maintains that, unless a white dude knows about a place, it doesn’t exist. Unless it’s documented in the Spanish royal archives, or the record books of the Dutch East India Company, or the Bible, it’s not a thing. It isn’t real.

Cities across the United States and Canada are finally starting to wake up to the damage wrought by Columbus’s expedition, acknowledging why it’s wrong to blindly worship a man for essentially jump-starting the systemic extermination of two continents worth of indigenous societies. Several of these cities have begun to institute Indigenous Peoples’ Day in its place. And that’s a step in the right direction.

More:
http://qz.com/521321/columbus-day-is-a-reminder-that-nothing-exists-until-a-white-guy-discovers-it/

Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016134202

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Columbus Day is a reminder that nothing exists until a white guy “discovers” it (Original Post) Judi Lynn Oct 2015 OP
Well, until a white guy steals it. Warpy Oct 2015 #1
Never met anyone anywhere who blindly worships Christopher Columbus Zorro Oct 2015 #2
Native American Day 2015: Facts And History For North America's First Residents, Before Christopher Judi Lynn Oct 2015 #3
The Truth About Columbus Day: Why Are We Celebrating? Judi Lynn Oct 2015 #4

Warpy

(110,908 posts)
1. Well, until a white guy steals it.
Sat Oct 10, 2015, 05:25 PM
Oct 2015

Columbus was far from the first white guy over here. He was the first imperialist white guy.

Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
3. Native American Day 2015: Facts And History For North America's First Residents, Before Christopher
Mon Oct 12, 2015, 12:47 AM
Oct 2015

Native American Day 2015: Facts And History For North America's First Residents, Before Christopher Columbus

By Jess McHugh @McHughJess j.mchugh@ibtimes.com on October 11 2015 5:05 PM EDT


[font size=1]
Native American advocacy groups have pushed to change Columbus Day to Native American Day or Indigenous People's Day. Pictured: Lakota
spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse attended a demonstration against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in January 2015. AFP/Getty Images
[/font]
As people around the United States celebrate Columbus Day Monday, with government offices and most schools closed, many others will be hosting festivities for an alternative celebration: Native American Day. The relatively new holiday, celebrated in cities and towns across the country, was started as a way to honor the indigenous people who were living in North and South America long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492.

At least nine cities in the U.S. will be officially celebrating "Indigenous Peoples Day" this year, including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota, and Olympia, Washington, the Associated Press reported. Many of the festivities on this day involve celebrating traditions specific to the tribes of the region as well as educating other people about the culture and history of Native Americans.

The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain, landing in what is now the Bahamas in 1492. Columbus since has been credited with discovering the New World. Indigenous people from tribes across North and South America have protested his title as discoverer, pointing out that they had lived in the Americas long before 1492. Some scientists estimate the indigenous people in the Americas arrived at least 12,000 years ago.

Columbus' journey led to thousands of Europeans from across the continent leaving to come to the Americas to make their fortunes. As more and more settlers arrived, the Europeans often used force to push Native Americans off their land. Europeans also brought with them many diseases to which the native population never had been exposed and to which they had no immunity, such as smallpox and measles. As many as 20 million Native Americans died in the centuries following the arrival of European settlers.

More:
http://www.ibtimes.com/native-american-day-2015-facts-history-north-americas-first-residents-christopher-2136416

LA forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141231272

Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
4. The Truth About Columbus Day: Why Are We Celebrating?
Mon Oct 12, 2015, 04:52 PM
Oct 2015

The Truth About Columbus Day: Why Are We Celebrating?
Monday, 13 October 2014 14:13
By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program

Christopher Columbus was the ISIS of his day.

He justified rape, murder and pillage with religion and funded his efforts with whatever he could steal.

Today, while millions across America are celebrating Columbus Day, the city of Seattle is celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

That’s because last week, the Seattle city council unanimously passed a resolution to honor the contributions and cultures of Native Americans on the second Monday of October.

While Seattle’s decision may seem unusual, it’s actually part of growing trend.

Many cities and states across the country have shifted away from celebrating Columbus Day, and that’s because more and more Americans are learning the real history behind Christopher Columbus and his “discovery.”

More:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26789-the-truth-about-columbus-day-why-are-we-celebrating


~ ~ ~

Eric Kasum

Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery

Posted: 10/11/2010 1:46 am EDT Updated: 5 hours ago


Once again, it's time to celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, the stunning truth is: If Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Columbus' reign of terror, as documented by noted historians, was so bloody, his legacy so unspeakably cruel, that Columbus makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.

Question: Why do we honor a man who, if he were alive today, would almost certainly be sitting on Death Row awaiting execution?

. . .

Columbus Day, as we know it in the United States, was invented by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization. Back in the 1930s, they were looking for a Catholic hero as a role-model their kids could look up to. In 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt signed Columbus Day into law as a federal holiday to honor this courageous explorer. Or so we thought.

. . .

Second, Columbus wasn't a hero. When he set foot on that sandy beach in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, Columbus discovered that the islands were inhabited by friendly, peaceful people called the Lucayans, Taínos and Arawaks. Writing in his diary, Columbus said they were a handsome, smart and kind people. He noted that the gentle Arawaks were remarkable for their hospitality. "They offered to share with anyone and when you ask for something, they never say no," he said. The Arawaks had no weapons; their society had neither criminals, prisons nor prisoners. They were so kind-hearted that Columbus noted in his diary that on the day the Santa Maria was shipwrecked, the Arawaks labored for hours to save his crew and cargo. The native people were so honest that not one thing was missing.

Columbus was so impressed with the hard work of these gentle islanders, that he immediately seized their land for Spain and enslaved them to work in his brutal gold mines. Within only two years, 125,000 (half of the population) of the original natives on the island were dead.

If I were a Native American, I would mark October 12, 1492, as a black day on my calendar.

Shockingly, Columbus supervised the selling of native girls into sexual slavery. Young girls of the ages 9 to 10 were the most desired by his men. In 1500, Columbus casually wrote about it in his log. He said: "A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand."

He forced these 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 for these sweet, gentle island people that at one point, 100 of them committed mass suicide. Catholic law forbade the enslavement of Christians, but Columbus solved this problem. He simply refused to baptize the native people of Hispaniola.

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. If the Spaniards ran short of meat to feed the dogs, Arawak babies were killed for dog food.

Columbus' acts of cruelty were so unspeakable and so legendary - even in his own day - that Governor Francisco De Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his two brothers, slapped them into chains, and shipped them off to Spain to answer for their crimes against the Arawaks. But the King and Queen of Spain, their treasury filling up with gold, pardoned Columbus and let him go free.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html

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