To some people, today is Columbus Day. Those people have a cultish dedication to believing that a rapist, a thief, a slaver, and an oppressor was a hero — I guess nowadays we can believe there will be subset of the citizenry who ignore the facts to invent a cherished symbol. To be fair, here’s a bit from the Friends of Italian-Americans.
Even by today’s impossible utopian standards, Columbus was without a doubt the greatest hero of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. He was a capitalist in the age of Empires, and what he did began the downfall of imperialism. He was a scientist in the age of superstition. He was a civil rights activist in the age of oppression. And he was a pacifist in the age of war-mongering. Thus, Columbus was an icon and a paragon.
For a quick dismissal of their claims, consider that they condemn Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States by citing a PragerU video.
I think this is a better summary of Columbus’s character.
cartomancer says
I’d quite like to meet this Columbus that the Friends of Italian-Americans are describing. He sounds lovely. I expect he’d hate the real one, though.
Walter Solomon says
Even if true, which it isn’t, that couldn’t have been his intention. He was happily claiming new lands for the Spanish Enpire after all.
rietpluim says
I have the strong impression that most people who are considered heroes, actually were rapists, thieves, slavers, oppressors etc. Consider Julius Caesar, for example. How would we call him if he invaded France today?
robro says
I would nominate Galileo or da Vinci as better models of Italian identity than Columbus or any of the Caesars.
timgueguen says
Interestingly a report came out this week that DNA from his supposed remains indicate he was Jewish. The report is already being criticised for the methods used and the conclusions made.
mordred says
Walter Solomon@2: Yeah no idea how C. could be seen as the beginning of the downfallmof imperialism.
I mean, his discovery and claiming the new lands for Spain, pretty much started the European empires, didn’t it?
Reginald Selkirk says
@5: And the fact that they announced the results in a televised press conference rather than a peer-reviewed journal article.
chigau (違う) says
Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada.
I shall “celebrate” with a TV dinner and a bottle of plonk.
Larry says
Since Columbus never set foot in what was to become the US nor on any part of the North American continent, have a holiday to celebrate the man is ridiculous. Factor in his rather unsavory penchant for slavery, torture, and other assorted behaviors often associated with European conquering “heroes”, we may as well have a holiday for King Leopold of Belgium who had many of the same qualities.
raven says
I know what you mean.
My ancestors were the Vikings.
AFAICT, they were just thugs, looters, raiders, slavers, and conquerors who terrorized the countries around them for a few hundred years.
The first raid on Britain was a monastery full of unarmed monks.
How hard was it to loot and destroy that monastery?
They managed to conquer and occupy parts of Ireland and France (Normandy). Well good for them but the native populations probably had a different idea about watching their land and stuff being stolen.
They only look good to us now because they’ve been dead for 1,000 years and are distant from us in time and space. And some of us had ancestors who were on the winning side
whheydt says
Also keep in mind that three days before “Columbus Day”, it’s Leif Eriksson Day.
Side note… Columbus only survived his initial voyage because he was using the wrong size for the Earth.
Akira MacKenzie says
Let me guess, their entire argument is “Zinn in a COMMUNIST (dramatic sting) so therefore he’s wrong.” Didn’t there “kids” channel produce a cartoon that argued that Columbus enslaving the natives, which was totally cool back then, was a more moral option than killing them?
Rhetorical question! Of course they did! (https://youtu.be/PKJU0K_ebfU?si=FI0gVs39MmhkyYVd)
Of course, what can you say about a YouTube channel whose quisling founder laments that he can’t use the n-word in public anymore.
Ridana says
Both of those statements read like parody to me (I assume the second one actually is).
Well, imperialism has to rise before it can fall, right?
Akira MacKenzie says
Fun Fact: Columbus’ motives for establishing an Atlantic trade route to Asia wasn’t just simple greed. Columbus wanted to fund a final Crusade to kick the Ottoman Empire of the Holy Land before the imminent return of Christ.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/columbus.html
Nathaniel says
Columbus Day is a concession to Italian-Americans, and why not? But Columbus is not the best exemplar. He wasn’t American; he didn’t even set foot on the American continent. How about Frank Sinatra? Or Enrico Fermi? Or Yogi Berra?
Kathi Rick says
unkhead Factoid:
Did Columbus spot a UFO?
Around 10 p.m. on the night of October 11, 1492 Columbus spotted an eery light glowing above the water. The following account is taken from “The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus”:
Christopher Columbus and Pedro Gutierrez while on the deck of the Santa Maira, observed, “a light glimmering at a great distance.” It vanished and reappeared several times during the night, moving up and down, “in sudden and passing gleams.” It was sighted 4 hours before land was sighted, and taken by Columbus as a sign they would soon come to land.
The Vicar (via Freethoughtblogs) says
As I recall, even the Spanish and Italians themselves both hated Columbus in his day. His crew certainly hated him. Sadly, they didn’t let their hatred of him influence them towards, you know, not behaving like him in all important respects. Not that that is unusual in history in any way, but it’s still depressing.
drew says
I’m pretty sure that “cultish” has a connotation of minority populations.
I agree that he was a monster. But I think that makes us the cultish ones.
astringer says
“Columbus didn’t find America”: Show of Hands
shermanj says
prager is an opponent of honesty and truth. He is trying indoctrinate people by forcing xtian terrorist fictional ideas down everyone’s throat. His pompous attitude and his phony ‘prager u’ are laughable.
It would be more appropriate if phrase was a threat made by a thug ‘Yeah, we’re gonna prater u’.
In contrast, the most outstanding and honest perspectives on history are found at:
https://www.howardzinn.org/
https://skepticalvet.com/ Danny Sjursen
Want an angry laugh, tell our tribal members how the murderous columbus ‘discovered’ america.
shermanj says
Oh, typos, sleepless in scarizona, I’m sorry. Should be:
It would be more appropriate if the phrase was a threat made by a thug ‘Yeah, we’re gonna prager u’.