In rememberance of the Arawak Indians...

[MessiahRp]

As another Columbus Day passes, I'd like to take a moment to remember the Arawak Indians whose genocide began at the hands of the man we celebrate and teach children about in a glowing format every year.

As disgusting as it is to know that we have a holiday for someone responsible for nearly as many murders as Hitler, I would like to take a moment to give a rec to the entire race of people lost in the shuffle on this day.

Please rec if you agree.

Rp

[rhett o rick]

1. I agree. Whole tribes, hundreds of thousands of peoples, most were peaceful were wiped out

by the capitalist bent on the riches of the New World.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. K&R

[SidneyCarton]

3. Those who came after Columbus chose to commit genocide too.

Blaming all the of the bloodshed in the western hemisphere on him is an exaggeration, Hernan Cortez, Francisco Pizarro, Andrew Jackson, George Custer and many more are equally complicit, if not more.

[MessiahRp]

4. True but that doesn't absolve him from anything

And the fact remains we have a holiday celebrating a mass murderer.

Rp

[SidneyCarton]

11. I didn't say it did.

But it is too convenient to lay all the sins of the conquista on Columbus. It absolves many men with equally bloody hands.

[MessiahRp]

13. I don't think anyone is absolving those men either...

But since none of them have Holidays in which children are indoctrinated about how amazing Columbus was, well he needs to be the direct target and his actions warrant such targeting anyway.

Rp

[Bandit]

10. We don't have National holidays in their honor though.

:shrug:

[elleng]

5. Unfortunately, U.S. history is just not taught; we and our children were taught fiction.

I doubt that we'll ever recover from this.

[Brother Buzz]

6. It doesn't level the playing field but there is overwhelming evidence the Arawak Indians gave

syphilis to Columbus's sailors which was then introduced to the Old World. Just desserts.

Recommend

[struggle4progress]

8. That may not be clearly established: the evidenvce is rather limited

Sunday, January 18, 2009
The origin of syphilis: a phylogenetic approach
K.N. Harper, P.S. Ocampo, B.M. Steiner, R.W. George, M.S. Silverman, S. Bolotin, A. Pillay, N.J. Saunders, and G.J. Armelagos. (2008). On the origin of the treponematoses: A phylogenetic approach. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2(1):e148.
http://spirochetesunwound.blogspot.com/2009/01/origin-of-syphilis-phylogenetic.html

[Withywindle]

7. And it wasn't for "exploration" or "knowledge."

"Discovering" America, my ass. (One cheek of said ass is first-generation, the other is DAR-eligible, they both say FUCK THAT.)

The "New World" was no secret. The Vikings were here. So were the Polynesians on the other coast. There are legends that the Welsh and Chinese did so as well. And of course the Arctic peoples have been all over from every continent that touches on the ice-floe sea--there are cultural connections between the indigenous peoples of Siberia, Scandinavia, and Alaska/Canada.

What Columbus did was hit at just the right time for opening the land up to a wave of imperialistic, greed-driven rape and pillage that made the Mongols look like Quaker peace envoys.

[cali]

9. times are changing. Our children are no longer being taught about

Columbus in such glowing terms. Many school districts no longer recognize Columbus day. Even 10 years ago when my son was in school the lionization of Columbus was no longer in his text book.

[JoeyT]

12. Recced

I once got drug out of a history class when the teacher made us write about Columbus and mine was about as scathing as it was possible for me to be without resorting to profanity. (Though I'm pretty sure I used the word "rape".) Then the principal, teacher, guidance counselor, and various other adults that had attached themselves to the situation demanded I explain myself for writing such terrible things about such a great man. My response boiled down to "Did you look at my race in the records? You might want to go do that.".

As far as I know most of the schools in the south still celebrate Columbus Day and still act as if the man never did anything wrong.