Christopher Columbus Revisited

Deliberating on the legacy of Columbus and how or if he should be recognized at all.

My sister was born on Columbus Day – October 12th. This was a good omen – as in those days, Christopher Columbus (CC) was exalted as an Italian explorer of extraordinary courage. He had landed coincidentally in the Bahamas on Oct.12th, 1492, while looking for a short-cut to China and India

– the fabled lands of silks and spices. CC was portrayed as a hero of mythological proportions – he was amazingly clever, supposedly believing the earth was round when all others thought it was flat. In order to be able to set sail at all, he exhibited a huge portion of political dexterity – wrapping Queen Isabella of Spain around his little finger after other monarchs rejected his

proposal. According to our history teachers, CC was an inspirational leader – motivating

his sailors to carry on with their mission although petrified of falling off the edge of the earth. To honor Capt. Columbus, we sang songs about the brave sailors and drew

pictures of fragile ships being tossed and turned across the tempestuous Atlantic: the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria! We recited poems about them, e.g. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. CC was just an allround awesome guy – a genuine role model for every man, woman and child.

In the 1700s, CC’s name had become ubiquitous throughout the young nation – cities, mountains, lakes and rivers were named after him. And the monuments! Only Washington and Lincoln can chalk up higher numbers in U.S. statuary!

Indeed, early Americans professed undying love for CC, but that is not where the story ends. A new twist arose a century later! To understand it, recall that in the late 1800s, masses of Italian immigrants began arriving in the U.S. – predominantly poor

farmers escaping starvation. Stereotyping these new citizens as sneaky, cowardly or

members of the Sicilian mafia was even shamefully stoked by the press! The Italian community needed a strategy to combat the

prejudices – how about embracing CC as a rallying icon? A Genoa-born emblem of

American virtues. In the wink of an eye, CC became a powerful symbol of Italian “Americanness” and the nationwide holiday of Columbus Day provided an opportunity

to celebrate Italian culture and heritage. So far so good, one might think. But – truth

be told – in revering Columbus, we overlooked his disgraces, which were many and

horrendous. CC was directly responsible for ordering the enslavement and murder of countless native people whose home he had “discovered”. He loaded homeward vessels

with indigenous captives to be sold as slaves and brutally made others labor in

gold mines. Historians can now prove that Columbus and the Spaniards committed savage acts of slaughter, torture and sexual

violence against the peaceful native population. They forced conversions to Christianity and introduced diseases to the population against which they had no immunity. There is no getting around it. Through the

lens of what we know today, Christopher Columbus represents oppression of the worst kind.

How to deal with this “new” knowledge? In some states, Columbus Day has been abolished. Italian organizations do not exonerate CC for his crimes but strongly

promote retaining the holiday to celebrate Italian-American culture. Today, CC’s legacy

is under debate. The general tenor of such discussions should be – as J. F. Kennedy once said - “Let us not seek to fix the blame

for the past; (instead) let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”