Happy Indigenous People’s Day

Early this morning, I ventured into the comments as I am wont to do, and I read an impassioned rebuttal from a person on why the legacy of Christopher Columbus should be maintained, and why Indigenous People's Day should occur on some other day, rather than attempt to hijack a holiday that celebrates a great Italian.

I'm trying to look at life with a greater sense of empathy, but I couldn't help thinking,

"Man, you couldn't be black. First time someone called you a nigger you'd crawl under a car and die."

I think a lot of people want to celebrate Columbus, but you definitely need to go back to the wood shop on this. It's about marketing. People love Al Capone, and he was a murderer.

Columbus was a good salesman. A fast talker. He had virtues, but discovery was not one of them. He was the epitome of throwing shit against the wall and seeing if it sticks, and he's lucky he found land at all, and didn't end up drifting ashore as nothing more than skin and bones.

Additionally, we have to also recall that Christopher Columbus would fit under the heading of genocidal madman. I often take time on this day to simply reflect on the deeds and words of Christopher Columbus and his men, and without a doubt, the thing that irks me the most about the man is that he had to talk himself into vilifying the people he would go on to massacre.

He readily recognized how beautiful they were, how kind they were. He recognized how their culture left them vulnerable to men like himself, and he had every intention of making every possible nightmare come true…and he did it in brutal fashion.

It’s one thing to conquer and subjugate a people. But to do it with boundless brutality, that take stomach, and a brand of heartlessness that most would never possess. That is why Columbus is so vilified today. He relished in destroying a civilization.

And this year, President Biden became the first president to mark this day with a presidential proclamation. How cool is that? And so it goes. Eat it Columbus!

So what are your thoughts on President Biden proclaiming today Indigenous People’s Day? Let me know down in the comments!

Thumbnail photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash