Differing Views
I am ambivalent towards today's celebration. It's Columbus Day, known in Spain as the Fiesta Nacional or Día de la Hispanidad. At the beginning of the twentieth century it was also known as the Día de la Raza, or Race Day. It marks the discovery of America by Columbus as emissary of the Catholic Monarchs, and the beginning of the Spanish Empire.
It's true that if Columbus hadn't "discovered" the New World, history would have been very different. There might not even have been the countries we know today in the American continents. The key is that Columbus was subscribed by the powerful Spanish monarchs. He was literally hired by the government of Spain to find land to colonize. It was a public expedition. Because Columbus wasn't the first to arrive. Leif Ericsson missed Greenland and ended up in Vinland, now thought to be Nova Scotia. Sir Henry Sinclair of Rosslyn fame is supposed to have visited what is now New England in the 1300's. There is really nothing to back up this claim, but some still insist on it. There is even a rock in Westford, Massachusetts, that is supposed to have the carving of a Knight Templar. Some geologists say it is merely a trick of weathering, not an actual carving.
But these previous visits were accidental. Columbus went on purpose and claimed the land for the Spanish crown. And there began the history of the different countries that now make up the Americas. So, yes, in that sense I am glad Columbus got the financing and the publicity. The only problem is what came afterwards. That belief in a "manifest destiny" that led the Americans to extend the country to the Pacific ocean, and the Europeans to colonize places that didn't "enjoy" Western civilization. In that sense this should be a day of mourning, of reflection, much like August 6th is remembered in Hiroshima.
Because the advent of the European powers in the Americas brought with it destruction to the indigenous peoples that had been living there for thousands of years. Some had intricate civilizations as complex as the European. But we went in with a Christian mania, and a gold mania. The Americas became a land to win for God, and to plunder for the wars that made each European nation more powerful than its neighbor. The native people were seen as backward and lacking in intelligence. Because the conquerors thought that if they had intelligence they would have left their backward ways and embraced the European values we considered supreme. Instead, they persisted in fighting us and our intentions of bringing light to their blighted communities. That is what has been taught in history classes for many years. It's the Eurocentric view that won out in the history books.
Now we are trying to see both sides of the story. And the revision of history has sometimes reached laughable proportions. Such as an independent political party in Catalunya that wanted to get rid of the famous statue of Christopher Columbus in Barcelona, and replace it with a monument to the indigenous peoples. Or the extreme leftist mayor of Badalona that decreed the 12th of October a work day, and has opened city hall offices like usual. We should instead give honor where it is due, while remembering the common people who were swept aside. Leave the statue alone; raise another next to it dedicated to the indigenous people we colonized. Let this day remain a holiday, just remember the mistakes and the thousands of lives it cost. There are two sides to every story. How about simply acknowledging both?
It's true that if Columbus hadn't "discovered" the New World, history would have been very different. There might not even have been the countries we know today in the American continents. The key is that Columbus was subscribed by the powerful Spanish monarchs. He was literally hired by the government of Spain to find land to colonize. It was a public expedition. Because Columbus wasn't the first to arrive. Leif Ericsson missed Greenland and ended up in Vinland, now thought to be Nova Scotia. Sir Henry Sinclair of Rosslyn fame is supposed to have visited what is now New England in the 1300's. There is really nothing to back up this claim, but some still insist on it. There is even a rock in Westford, Massachusetts, that is supposed to have the carving of a Knight Templar. Some geologists say it is merely a trick of weathering, not an actual carving.
But these previous visits were accidental. Columbus went on purpose and claimed the land for the Spanish crown. And there began the history of the different countries that now make up the Americas. So, yes, in that sense I am glad Columbus got the financing and the publicity. The only problem is what came afterwards. That belief in a "manifest destiny" that led the Americans to extend the country to the Pacific ocean, and the Europeans to colonize places that didn't "enjoy" Western civilization. In that sense this should be a day of mourning, of reflection, much like August 6th is remembered in Hiroshima.
Because the advent of the European powers in the Americas brought with it destruction to the indigenous peoples that had been living there for thousands of years. Some had intricate civilizations as complex as the European. But we went in with a Christian mania, and a gold mania. The Americas became a land to win for God, and to plunder for the wars that made each European nation more powerful than its neighbor. The native people were seen as backward and lacking in intelligence. Because the conquerors thought that if they had intelligence they would have left their backward ways and embraced the European values we considered supreme. Instead, they persisted in fighting us and our intentions of bringing light to their blighted communities. That is what has been taught in history classes for many years. It's the Eurocentric view that won out in the history books.
Now we are trying to see both sides of the story. And the revision of history has sometimes reached laughable proportions. Such as an independent political party in Catalunya that wanted to get rid of the famous statue of Christopher Columbus in Barcelona, and replace it with a monument to the indigenous peoples. Or the extreme leftist mayor of Badalona that decreed the 12th of October a work day, and has opened city hall offices like usual. We should instead give honor where it is due, while remembering the common people who were swept aside. Leave the statue alone; raise another next to it dedicated to the indigenous people we colonized. Let this day remain a holiday, just remember the mistakes and the thousands of lives it cost. There are two sides to every story. How about simply acknowledging both?
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