We’re human beings with the blood of a million savage years
on our hands. But we can stop it. We can admit that we’re
killers, but we won’t kill today.
Captain James T. Kirk
Starship Enterprise
Recently, Michael Cascio, wrote an impassioned letter which appeared under the headline “Celebrating Italian-American Heritage.”
He wrote about “a people being proud…” He accurately pointed out “Columbus lived in a much different time” and while he doesn’t, specifically say so, he makes the case that historic figures should be judged “in the context of their times.”
Referring to Columbus, he states “…let us celebrate his courage, forgive his indiscretions, and give the Italian people their day to hold their heads up high.”
Hard to argue against such logical beliefs.
Why, then, the controversy? The answer lies in answering the question — what did Columbus say and do? In his book Columbus: His Enterprise, Hans Koning writes:
Every man and woman in the province of
Cibao…had to collect gold for the Spaniards.
As their measure, the Spaniards used…hawks’
bells …Every three months every Indian had
to bring to one of the forts a hawks’ bell filled
with gold dust …Copper tokens were
manufactured and when an Indian brought his or her
tribute to an armed post, he or she received
such a token…Whoever was caught without a
token was killed by having his or her hands cut
off. There are old Spanish prints…that show
this being done: the Indians stumble away
staring with surprise at their arm stumps
spouting blood.
And later Koning writes:
Thus it was at this time that the mass
suicides began. The Arawaks killed themselves
with cassava poison. During [the] two years
of the administration of the brothers Columbus
` an estimated one-half of the population of
Hispaniola was killed or killed themselves.
The estimates run from one hundred and twenty
five thousand to one half million.
If one questions these statements one need only turn to the writings of Columbus himself. In a letter to Raphael Sanchez, Treasurer of Aragon, Spain, and a Columbus patron, he writes: “As soon as they are safe…they are very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they have; none of them refusing anything he may possess when he is asked for it.”
And in his log, Columbus wrote: “…should your majesties command it, all the inhabitants could be taken to Castile or made slaves on the island. With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want…”
Is this the proper role model for us to hold up to our children?
The person most responsible for bringing about the revolution in the Columbus curriculum is Bill Bigelow who taught for decades at Jefferson High School in Portland, Ore.
Bigelow points out that when we say Columbus “discovered” America we are using that word incorrectly.
How do you “discover” land on which people have lived for years before your arrival? Bigelow’s students come up with words far more accurate such as “conquered,” “invaded” and “stole.” Bigelow points out that we should not revere an explorer who wiped out an entire race in 40 years.
He asks his fellow teachers to put the following questions to their students.
- Are your textbooks factually accurate? Is anything omitted?
- What motives does the text ascribe to Columbus? Were these his real motives?
- Does the textbook author get you to “root for” Columbus?
How does he do this?
- Are history books written from the perspective of the “winners”? Had Hitler won World War II or if the Czars had defeated the Communists in Russia, what would we be taught in our schools?
- Are there groups in our society with a vested interest in honoring Columbus? What groups oppose this and why?
It wasn’t until 1937 that Columbus Day was made a national holiday.
Since then there has been an avalanche of cities, states and universities which have replaced it with something called “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
The four states which celebrate the new holiday are Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and South Dakota.
In 1992, the first city to drop Columbus Day was Berkeley, Calif. In 2015, 17 cities followed suit; in 2016, 18 more and in 2017, 25.
One last thought on how to avoid the inevitable controversy which arises whenever the subject of Columbus comes up.
If Italian-Americans are entitled to a day marking their contribution to America (the Irish have St. Patrick’s Day) could we not find a more suitable representative?
I would like my Italian-American friends to think about Leonardo daVinci, one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived.
He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, geologist, cartographer and botanist.
Or you might fancy Enrico Fermi, the physicist who created the world’s first nuclear reactor and who in 1938 won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Then, there’s my favorite, Fiorello Laguardia, whose life was dedicated to public service, but who may be disqualified on grounds that his mother was Jewish.
It should be noted that in no case have any of the three candidates I have suggested been accused of genocide.
Dr. Hal Sobel
Great Neck
