A Rapist, A Murderer, Deserves No Holiday.


Abolish Columbus Day. Courtesy American Indian Movement Colorado.

Abolish Columbus Day. Courtesy American Indian Movement Colorado.

[…] In my lobbying, thus far, only one person has refused to listen and acknowledge Columbus Day was harmful.

This person told me he didn’t believe in Columbus and the day didn’t exist in his world because he chose to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead.

“Here in Colorado,” I replied, “Columbus Day is still an issue. That holiday started here and it needs to be abolished here.”

I explained further the reason this holiday needed to be abolished – that we can no longer celebrate colonial legacies. The man continued to refuse to listen to what I was saying, and I felt like he’d argue forever, so I simply moved on.

For days after this conversation his words continued to vex me. This person refused to acknowledge genocidal tactics and forced colonization Columbus and invading nations brought to us, the indigenous peoples. How does one reach a state of mind where they ignore symptoms of colonization each of us face every single day? If we’re not to acknowledge genocidal tendencies and go about our merry day, then who are we? As an indigenous woman, I am forced to recognize the genocidal and colonial legacies Columbus left our people because there’s no way around it.

My family has survived the tactic residential schools used during the infamous “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”

My family is learning how to be survivors of the missing and murdered indigenous women struggle.

My family is learning how to be survivors of alcohol and drug abuse.

My family is learning how to be survivors of genocide.

I argue Columbus brought this destruction to us.

He murdered our women first.

He mutilated us and raped us.

He brought death and disease, which changed in time to become a sickness of drug and alcohol abuse.

He stole our land and our resources to expand his pockets.

This might sound familiar up in Standing Rock, North Dakota, where our relatives are still fighting for land rights and against extractive industries 524 years later.

All of our struggles are related and will continue until we dismantle these racist, colonial tendencies brought forth by a man named Christopher Columbus who does not deserve a holiday and never has.

Let’s stay vigilant and remove this holiday and together we can build a better future for our next generations.

This truly needs to be understood, especially by those who stubbornly stick to “what about Italian culture and pride” stance. I’d say Italian culture could be much better represented by just about anyone else, if a single person could be said to stand for all Italian cultures, which I doubt is the case. People also need to understand that such a representative represents great harm and ongoing trauma to many other peoples.

Tessa McLean’s full article is here.

Comments

  1. kestrel says

    No, not an admirable person. I remember in history class there was one kid who would always pipe up with, “What did he die of?” whenever Columbus was mentioned. It was one of the first times in my young life I went and looked something up to find out on my own, because our teacher was sure not going to tell us.

    In case you didn’t already know, which I suspect most people do: syphilis.

  2. Kreator says

    Agreed. In Argentina it never was “Columbus Day,” but “Day of the Race,” and finally got changed to “Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity” a few years ago.

  3. rq says

    I don’t think Italians would want their culture associated with rape, murder and genocide. I mean, sure, he took a few ships across the ocean, but it’s not the act of heroism people make it out to be.

  4. says

    Raucous Indignation:

    Caine, FWIW, I am of Italian descent, and you may throw the memory of that vile person into the wood chipper.

    I’ll happily help. I’ve always found the ‘Italian Pride’ argument confusing. From the little I’ve understood, there’s a fairly high number of distinct cultures under the umbrella ‘Italian’, so I’ve never understood how one person was supposed to represent all.

  5. says

    Oh, and I’ve seen the oatmeal cartoon before, and for the most part, I agree, but no replacing Columbus with another person, please. Indigenous Peoples Day is fine.

  6. says

    Oh, and I’ve seen the oatmeal cartoon before, and for the most part, I agree, but no replacing Columbus with another person, please.

    Especially not another “White Saviour” even if the one in question was fucking rad.
    I like the “Columbus discovered the Americas like the asteroid discovered the dinosaurs” bit.

    +++
    re: Italians
    1. Columbus sailed and worked for the Spanish crown. Nationalities didn’t exist like that back in 1492, but we can surely assume that if we applied our modern concepts then Columbus would have been naturalised as a Spaniard. I visited his tomb in Sevilla, not Rome.

    2. Italy didn’t exist either. It was divided into rivalling city states. Columbus was Genovese by birth, not “Italian”

    +++
    Which takes me last to the Spanish people: Holy fuck they need to stop and own their shit. They are still acting like Latin America has to thank them for all.

  7. cubist says

    If I were single out one human being as an admirable examplar of Italian culture, the first name that comes to mind is Leonardo da Vinci. Columbus… yeah, no. Dude didn’t do shit to “prove” the world was round, and in fact, he thought the world was about 2/3 as big as most everyone else did. Dude therefore loaded up with an inadequate supply of provisions, and if the American continents hadn’t been in the way, dude would have run out of supplies long before he reached his intended destination.

  8. says

    Cubist:

    and if the American continents hadn’t been in the way, dude would have run out of supplies long before he reached his intended destination.

    It’s a pity he didn’t.

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