To me, Columbus Day is like Rosh Hashannah. You know, a day we whites atone for the sins of our ancestors.

I wrote this a couple years back on Columbus Day 2007 but think it fits just fine for this year and all years,
really:

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of A People’s History of The United States: 1492 to Present:

Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from
their villages onto the island’s beaches and swam out to get a closer
look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came
ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet
them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his
log:

They…brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other
things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells.
They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built,
with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do
not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and
cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are
made of cane… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could
subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.

These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians on the
mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were to say again
and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing. These
traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated
as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the
frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and it’s first
messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus.

Happy Columbus Day, everyone!

Happy Columbus Day 2009, everyone!

Posted via email from thepete's posterous