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Rethinking Columbus - Rethinking Schools Online In order to guarantee that the inmates of America's public education system were force-fed the new party line, the National Council of Education activists produced a 97-page guide entitled Rethinking Columbus. The chapter titles in this booklet display a Mao-like gift for ideological pedagogy: "We Have No Reason to Celebrate an Invasion"; "Why I am Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"; "Helping Children Critique Columbus Books"; "Once Upon a Genocide"From: REPMilw@aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 22:41:10 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: new web site
You might want to mention our new web site,
http://www.rethinkingschools.org
The lead story in the current issue section is by Eric Rofes entitled, "Gay Issues, Schools and the Right Wing Backlash." It is available on the web.
A recent reviewer wrote about the website:
On May 1, the Rethinking Schools website went up. Rethinking Schools, for those of you who do not yet subscribe, is the best activist education journal I have ever read. Based in Milwaukee, it includes articles from all over the country.
Written by and for teachers, it is the leading grass-roots voice for reform of our public schools (which are our surest bulwark against anti-democratic forces in this country). Its widely-praised special edition publications (which you should definitely order for your local library and schools) include Rethinking Columbus, Rethinking Our Classrooms, and Selling Out Our Schools.
RS is a must-read for teachers, parents, and anyone concerned about educational equity and multi-cultural/anti-racist education. And its new website is a "must-browse." Check out the articles from current and past issues, the complete index, reviews of education publications, links with key education and social action URLs, a math corner, No Comment (reports of inane actions taken by bureaucrats and bombasts such as John Silber), and more. They took a lot of time and care in developing it, and I think the quality shows.
Please check it out and mention it to your internet friends: http://www.rethinkingschools.org
Hidden connections: the mystical side of Christopher Columbus
As the secular press tries to slander him as cruel to the Indians or to take away his credit, the truth is that Christopher Columbus was not only the true discoverer of America, but also a deeply devout Christian with mystical connections.
Indeed, few know that Columbus prayed at a shrine in Spain called Guadalupe before setting off on his great journey. This was a spot where an ancient image of the Virgin had been hidden in the first centuries after the death of Christ and where she later appeared to a herdsman, telling him in 1326 to have the bishop dig up the image and build a chapel. It is believed that Columbus took a replica of the image with him on his first trip across the Atlantic, and when he arrived in the New World he named an island after Guadalupe (it is now spelled "Guadeloupe"), and soon after, the Virgin appeared to an Aztec Indian near Mexico City at a spot that was also named Guadalupe!
The devotion of Columbus was tangible. He named his ship after Christ's mother (the Santa Maria) and every night he and his crew sang the Hail Mary. According to his diary, Columbus, looking for the correct course, was guided at one critical point by a "marvelous branch of fire" that fell from the sky.
That was on September 15, 1492. Once across the Atlantic, this faithful son named the first island he came to "San Salvador" for the Savior and the second "Santa Maria de la Concepcion" for Mary, in addition to Guadeloupe and another island, Montserrat, named for another ancient apparition site near Barcelona.
Upon landfall Columbus and his men prayed the Salve Regina.
Thus, the first Christian prayer recited in the New World was an entreaty calling Mary the great advocate and Mother of God.
While in an attempt to take away his credit many point out the Vikings arrived in North America long before Columbus and that he was brutal with the Indians, the fact is that the Vikings never established their discovery (for all practical purposes, they simply skirted the northern regions and then left), and it was the Indians who were brutal. The first Caribbean natives Columbus encountered were cannibals!
Thus, despite the yearning for secular scholars to erase the mystical foundation of America, its very discovery was rooted in Christianity. Other explorers were equally devout. The Mississippi was originally called the "River of the Immaculate Conception" and the Chesapeake the "Bay of Saint Mary." Quebec was known as the "Village of Mary," and Lake George was originally called the "Lake of the Blessed Sacrament." Indians reported apparitions of the Virgin from South America to Montana, and New York State was consecrated to her before it was even known as New York.
Today Columbis, tommorrow George Washington, Adams, and Jefferson.
Still vilified in the Public Schools..
Happy Columbus Day!!!
Happy Columbus Day, BTTT!!!