Posted on 10/07/2004 10:45:40 AM PDT by aynrandy
Columbus Day is again upon us.
A parade. Balloons. Cops. Violence. Recrimination. Pseudo-historical ranting.
You know - fun for the kids.
A few Native Americans and the usual suspects in the Coalition of Progressives Against All Western Culture will again attempt to intimidate local Italian-Americans as they celebrate the legacy of an important, if somewhat imprecise, explorer.
Christopher Columbus is often compared to Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. The Genoese explorer doesn't belong in any conversation that includes genocidal dictators. Quite the opposite.
But Vernon Bellecourt, the principal spokesman for the American Indian Movement, has fought against Columbus Day for decades and lent a helping hand in organizing the protests here in Denver.
By 1991, his brand of "civil disobedience" became so violent in Denver that Columbus Day parades ended for the rest of the decade. When the parade was resuscitated in 2000, police arrested 147 protesters who tried to block Denverites from celebrating a national holiday.
Through his Ministry of Information, Bellecourt sends me a press release titled "Re: Indigenous People's Opposition to Celebration and Glorification of Colonial Pirate Christopher Columbus," and it is addressed to "our Italian friends, and the Sopranos ..."
Bellecourt is out there, but surely he is aware that Tony Soprano is a fictional character. Like Tonto, the Lone Ranger's servile sidekick, an insulting stereotype.
Bellecourt says Columbus - an Italian - spurred an orgy of "murder, torture, raping, pillaging, robbery, slavery, kidnapping, and forced removal (of Indians) from their homeland."
American Indians suffered terribly under European rule. There is no argument, no excuse.
But when I mention that Native Americans weren't exactly peaceful egalitarians, collecting berries and expanding their utopia when Columbus arrived, I get a lengthy spiel on some elaborate plot by the CIA in Guatemala and "reactionaries."
Since everyone knows the CIA couldn't pull off a toddler's diaper, much less a complex coup, my reaction is to move on.
An infinitely more composed and grounded Rev. Patrick Demmer of Graham Memorial Church of God in Christ in Park Hill, is also taking part in the protests as part of a joint effort of the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance.
"They have a great heritage; they are a great people," Demmer says of Italian-Americans. "I went to school in Mapleton with many Italians. I love the Italian people. I love the food. I love the culture. I think Italians are extremely cool. They have a lot of soul. Why they choose to embrace a slave trader and rapist is beyond me."
Pamela Wright, maiden name Ciancio, acknowledges atrocities under Spanish rule, too, but disputes the Reverend's characterization of Columbus.
Wright, who is president of the local Sons of Italy and a lifelong Denver area resident, thinks the whole thing is just sad. She's been going to the Columbus Day parades in Denver since she was a kid - excluding the decade protesters shut it down.
In recent years she's witnessed protesters brandishing signs that call Italians "Mafia scum." She's seen the streets lined with police dressed in riot gear and angry protesters yelling at her.
"I think Columbus Day is a holiday all Americans should take part in. I view it as an opportunity for Americans to stand back and look at what we have. We celebrate what he brought here. Because of his voyage, he not only changed America, he changed the world."
No one is innocent. Columbus included. Yet, to Americans who march each year, he is a courageous hero for bravely traversing the Atlantic and (sort of) discovering America.
Fortunately, he's less convincing in the role of scapegoat.
David Harsanyi's column appears Monday and Thursday. He may be reached at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com .
Give me a break.
The best thing that ever happened to them was European rule.
Few people have any idea how nasty and brutal life in these tribes was until they were civilized.
What did Columbus find when he got here? Appalling atrocities of human sacrifice, cannibalism, child killing, rape, torture, tribal war, mass murder, rivers of blood and mountains of skulls! All caused by those pristine and pure "Indians". Let's at least get the facts straight!
People are so ignorant about what Columbus actually did. Read a book, people. These folks are simply spewing stereotypes exactly as they accuse others of doing. Like so much history, the reality is complex, full of tragedy, triumph, & mistakes. The problem is that its not even possible to have a discussion with the brainwashed.
Sadly, there are books being read - revisionist history taught to all public school children...
I feel real bad for the Native Americans.... apparently they are the only people in history to be murdered, tortured, raped, pillaged, robbed, enslaved, or kidnapped!
Don't forget 'conquered'.
Reminds me of a Salvadoran war widow who came to Arlington, VA in 1992. Her teenage daughter was enrolled in the public high school and later begged her mother to be allowed to return to El Salvador to go to school.
Her impression of high school in America was that black thugs assault girls in the hallway and in class one is taught bad things about Columbus instead of good things. In El Salvador, Columbus is a hero, his image was on the paper money of every denomination, and the currency was named after him (Colones before the dollar took over). The teen was allowed to return to El Salvador to complete high school.
Within just a few years of 1492, there was an explosion of permanent settlements in the Americas and yet this writer descibes the discovery as "sort of".
The best sailors admire Columbus as both a methodical and instinctive sailor who deserved the title "Admiral of the Ocean Sea".
Why Columbus? He wasn't the first European to see America. As far as we know (ignoring unverified stories about St. Brendan and the like) the first European to see any of North America was a Norseman in 986--Bjarni Herjolfsson. He has the added merit of never having actually landed, so he didn't cause any harm to indigenous peoples, plants, or animals.
Of course, if Greenland is counted as part of North America (as it is geographically) then the Norse who colonized Greenland are the first Europeans in America.
How many people know John Cabot was Columbus' counterpart, but Cabot actually set foot in what is today the USA! Shall we have Cabot's name removed from all towns and streets. IMO, Cabot was a much greater influence in the establishment of Europeans in the West.
Vikings are, you know, the source of all things superior!
Yes but the English colonies here started over 100 years after the Spanish colonies so we were Johnny-Come-Lately types.
The 1588 battle defeating the Spanish Armada had a lot to do with English confidence in establishing colonies during the following generation just as the fall of Moslem Grenada in 1492 had giiven the Spanish confidence.
Yankess always have to be reminded that Jamestown, Virginia predates the colony at Plymouth,
I didn't forget that, I just didn't want to rub it in and hurt their feelings.
Wouldn't want them to feel bad while they are hanging out, tax-free, in their casinos. /sarcasm
I think reparations are in order.(not)
On Cape Breton Island (province of Nova Scotia) they have a "Cabot trail" and they claim he reached their island.
Whether he actually made it to New England (named by Capt. John Smith of Jamestown fame) is uncertain.
This is true.
Some observers consider the Civil War to have been the Second War of Independence. It was also the Second English Revolution, fought by descendants of the Cavaliers and Roundheads.
You're thinking of the wrong natives, that was over in Mexico and Peru. Columbus landed on Hispaniola, which had fairly primitive agricultural and hunter tribes. He then proceded to murder thousands (especially if they didn't bring him the gold he thought was there) and ship untold many more off to be slaves although admitting they didn't do well as slaves (not able to do the hard field work like Africans) and most were dying during the trip anyway -- but he sent more.
It was so bad that the local priest sent with Columbus complained about the injustices, but he was ignored.
The saving grace for Columbus was that what he did was pretty standard fare for the time and generally considered to be moral and just, and his actions were supported by the crown. The Dutch explorers wiped out thriving kingdoms in East Africa for their gold too, but I don't hear anyone complaining about that.
To protest against Columbus' failings and not recognize his daring and important achievements is pure PC BS. Are we also to dismiss the achievements of the Founding Fathers because many owned slaves?
Standard Leftie "multiculturalism."
Sadly, this is a case of the initial story being imcomplete (he's a great hero, period), with an attempt at correction to show the whole picture (he's a hero, but some bad things did happen) that just went way too far in the opposite direction (he's a pure villain), and ending up as intellectually dishonest as the original was.
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