Posted on 10/09/2005 6:38:56 PM PDT by RWR8189
"Well, Billy, in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to America and founded the very first settlement in the New World. His arrival marks the beginning of America as we know it."
"But didn't he discover America by accident, dad?"
"Columbus believed the Earth was a sphere. He thought he could reach the Far East by setting off on a westward course. Though he stumbled upon what is now the Bahamas by accident, he was still a great explorer and a great man, Billy."
"A great man, dad, or a racist oppressor?"
"Pardon me, son?"
"When Columbus came to America, he brought with him the greed of the white European males who subsequently colonized America for the dough. They fought and killed the Indigenous Peoples who were already here and took their land and their gold. Columbus eventually died a very rich man."
"Well, Billy, an unfortunate part of human history involves countries invading their neighbors to take control. This has happened in many parts of the world, including Europe, which has a long history of war. But remember that Indigenous Peoples were also prone to war and fighting to expand their control well before Europeans arrived."
"Well, Columbus is also responsible for many germs and diseases that Europeans brought to America, causing untold suffering and death among the people who were here before us."
"Have you been drinking too much caffeine lately, Billy?"
"America's history of environmental destruction can also be laid at Columbus' feet, dad. As soon as the Europeans colonized America's pristine lands, they cut down the trees and plowed up the fields. Can you say soil erosion, dad?"
"Son, did I ever tell you that you take after your mother's side?"
"And what about slavery?
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
The double angle brackets you used to quote the article were likely interpreted by the site as HTML, and once it thinks you're using HTML it expects you to use "br" tags at paragraph ends and in line breaks (here I put double-quotes around the "br" instead of angle brackets so it wouldn't think I'm typing HTML).
When I quote an article, I usually put it in double quotes and use "i" and "/i" HTML tags to put it in italics (with the appropriate angle brackets, of course). It's a pain since it means that I have to use "br" tags at all paragraph endings and in line breaks, but that's where copy/paste comes in handy.
Why are you calling those people "trolls"?
My family is of Italian descent, and I have to say, even if the day were eliminated as a federal holiday, it would still be celebrated in those communities. Maybe we should eliminate it as a federal holiday, so those same people complaining won't also have a paid day-off to come and protest it. ;-)
But, to those who point to Columbus' flaws, the others had flaws, too. If you want to eliminate Columbus Day, you need to eliminate a lot of other federal holidays, too. To err is to be human, and they were all flawed. Gov't employees receive too much time off with pay, anyway.
"That's right, children, Columbus invented germs and diseases, the most important one being smallpox."
And for those who need it... /sarc
"Troll"
uh, why?
Tonight on WCCO-TV news (Minneapolis), there were some interviews with some grade school kids about Columbus. The kids have gotten their political indoctrination about Columbus being some kind of racist genocidal oppressor.
MY TAXES ARE PAYING FOR THIS < excrement >!
Columbus' discovery of America is one of the most significant events in history. The knowledge he took back to Europe changed the world.
If nothing else, our Columbus Day holiday is a tribute to that historic event.
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