“Columbus – colonialist and imperialist”
Published: 13 October, 2009, 02:17
Edited: 22 January, 2010, 15:59
A supporter of the Mapuche Indian movement wears a mask during a rally against Columbus Day in downtown Santiago October 12, 2009 (AFP Photo / Getty Images)
(26.4Mb) embed videoTAGS: Anniversary, Conflict, South America, Hate crimes, Protest, Human rights, History, USA
After Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America “terrible things’ were done to the Native Americans and he doesn’t deserve a holiday, RT contributor Wayne Madsen said.
On October, 12 Americans mark the anniversary of the European discovery of the New World by the explorer Christopher Columbus.
However, some say the annual Columbus Day holiday is equal to celebrating the Holocaust, as his arrival on the continent in 1492 was followed by what they describe as the genocide of Native Americans.
“We don’t have a holiday in this nation for the Native Americans: we don’t celebrate their rich culture, their contributions to America but we have Columbus Day,” said Wayne Madsen, an investigative journalist and RT contributor.
“Columbus basically ushered forth in western hemisphere what the Native American museum in Washington describes as a holocaust across the lives of 65 million Native Americans and the systematic destruction of 500 native nations,” he said.
According to Madsen, many teachers in American public schools are now giving a balanced view of Columbus, saying he shouldn’t be put on a pedestal and turned into a fairy tale figure. “In fact he was a colonialist, he was an imperialist,” Madsen went on.
“After Columbus we saw terrible things done to Native Americans – from contaminating blankets with smallpox, skinning Indians alive,” he said. “So this is what we are celebrating when we celebrate Columbus.”
Racism against Native Americans still exists today, which can be seen in many spheres from sports – where teams pick racist names – to casinos on Native American reservations. “We see the Washington Redskins, for example, which is a totally racist appellation. The Cleveland Indians – a baseball team uses a caricature of a Native American with bucked teeth – a very racist symbol.”
In Venezuela, the journalist went on, the day of “discovery of America” – where in fact millions of people lived at that time – is called the “Day of Indigenous Resistance”.
“We should look more at how the Latin Americans treat this day,” Madsen said. He said he doesn’t think “Columbus deserves a holiday and many people agree with that”.
12.10.2009, 22:35
2 comments
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Let me say that the Spanish Kingdom was an example for other imperial powers in everything regarding to rights, civil status and consideration of the native populations. It is -however- certain, that as it always happened, several abuses and crimes were committed by some explorers and soldiers before a legal basis to protect indians was created but this can't tarnish the good policies towards Indians (check the example of Bartolomé de las Casas, the testament of Isabel the Catholic, the Laws of Burgos, the New Laws, the "Siete Partidas", and so on). You can't tell the Europeans were genocides because they had some viruses the Indians didn't had and neither because they conversed Indians to Catholicism and taught them Spanish or Portuguese and they imposed a new political system, but you can tell Aztecs were really genocides towards their subjugated neighbors (and not because any strange virus).
This anti-Columbus news observed in 09 is the most open yet. In the Columbus Parade in Denver, Colorado in the U.S., Indian people annually protest it. Lots of news about Indian people who resist the colonizers gets censored in the U.S. mainstream media such as news that happens at the Arizona border between the Tohono O'odham, Native Americans who live on the border and Homeland Security. I suspect if the public knew this information they would question the federal government more. Better to keep the public uneducated and uninformed, so the public is easy to control. Glad Columbus Day was renamed the Day of Indigenous Resistance in S. America. What Wayne Madsen said in defense of Indian people in U.S. is generally true. Why couldn't you interview an informed Indian person about this? I will add in regards to the media: where are the Indian writers, producers and leading actors in dramas and comedies. Low count of people in managerial positions in the entertainment business. In the late 60's and early 70's, lots of resistance happened among young Indian people which produced the Occupation of Alcatraz and Wounded Knee. All this happened along side the women's movement, other peoples of color movements, student strikes in U.S. and the anti-Vietnam war. Whenever most filmmakers make videos about what happened in the 60's, the filmmaker usually fails to include the Indian people who resisted colonialism, which I don't get. Is it being uninformed? I'm a Dine' filmmaker so the media is my business to know. To find out what happens, have to search the alternative press where it's not ignored. Also, do I view any information written about the indigenous people who live in Russia in the mainstream press. No. Colonizers are worldwide. To be an Indian in the U. S. and in Canada has improved ONLY A LITTLE. I WANT MUCH MORE CHANGE. Why should a Dine' filmmaker be happy about Columbus Day? Something's happening here. Good for the indigenous people.
I think that this comment about Christopher Columbus is completely out of context. Columbus was neither a colonialist nor an imperialist. Whoever made this comment should research and study the history of Columbus before making such false statements ! Columbus was a master mariner, a chart maker and a explorer. On his first expedition, on August 3, 1492 he first landed in the Bahamas and then sailed on and found Cuba and then Hispaniola. He claimed the land for Spain (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who hired him for the Spain). On Christmas Eve the Santa Maria was wrecked on the north coast of Hispaniola, leaving the men there to found a colony. He returned to Spain. He sailed back to the islands in late 1493, only to fine that the colony destroyed and all of its inhabitants killed by the indigenous natives. He sailed on to discover the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico and then returned to Spain in 1496. On his third expedition, he was "forced" to transport convicts as colonists. If you are going to tell a story, please research all the information and present all the details, before making false and untrue statements. He opened the New World to Western civilization and Christianity. This is why we celebrate Columbus Day in America !