Op-ed writers hit the mark on Christopher Columbus
Thanks should go out to Matthew Guarnieri, David Generoso and Phil Dickey for their op-ed of Feb. 10 concerning Christopher Columbus, allowing us to see him in a broader context and not portrayed merely as a villainous human trafficker [Opinion, Page 3, “Open letter to Stamford Board of Education on Columbus”].
Unfortunately, the Stamford Board of Education still sees him that way and has chosen to engage in the latest round of cancel culture by eliminating Columbus Day and giving their students a distorted, narrow view based on identity politics. Doing so not only vilifies Columbus but, by extension, Western Civilization itself. It was Columbus’ discovery of the continents between Europe and Asia that led to the expansion of that civilization.
The ideas of Aristotle, Galileo, Martin Luther and other writers, thinkers and philosophers eventually coalesced into this United States of America. Was everything done in picture-perfect fashion? No. Human civilization has never progressed that way and never will. We are an imperfect species. Columbus was not the skipper of a Cunard Liner sailing around paradise. Warfare, slavery and cannibalism existed in that region; that does not justify evil acts committed against indigenous peoples but the world was a different place more than 500 years ago.
The ultimate irony is that the Board of Education, while claiming to champion the values and goals developed by Western Civilization, actually debases them. They cover themselves in sanctimony while engaging in a Soviet-era exercise of erasing and then rewriting history. They don’t want history to be seen on a broad scale — just cherry pick the bad events. More people have been lifted out of abject poverty and enjoyed the benefits of life due to Western Civilization than anything else in human history. Thanks to Guarnieri, Generoso and Dickey for pointing out why we will continue to celebrate Columbus, Columbus Day and the heritage of Western Civilization. John Gallup, South Windsor