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The Genocide of an Indigenous People

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..."

The original text of the song can be found here: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/IEC /iecmusic6.html

Every year, at or around October 12, there are parades in cities around the United States, and Italian-American organizations hold celebrations in honor of Columbus, as a demonstration of pride in Italian heritage.

Although it is good to be proud of one's heritage, there is another side to Columbus Day, as seen by the descendants of the native peoples whom Columbus and the Spaniards oppressed and conquered.

Here's a point that needs to be addressed: Columbus and his crew would have never made it to the New World if it weren't for the King and Queen of Spain. So much focus is placed on the Italian celebration of this holiday, but the Spaniards gave Columbus the financial backing.

After all, it was their Catholic Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, who sponsored Columbus, a seaman from Genoa, on his trip to the New World. They had lots of money and had much to gain by sending ships to the Spice Islands and stood to profit by a shortcut to the Indies.

The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria departed Spain in August, 1492. Little did the crew know how lost they were, and they couldn't ask for directions. Even if they were able to, being men, they would not have done so. When they made landfall, on October 12, they thought they had reached the Indies. It was easy to make that mistake; after all, they found a dark skinned, dark haired people, with exotic features.

The Spanish wrought havoc in the New World, exploited the natives, and brought smallpox. They also forced their brand of Christianity on these people. Their goal, after all, was to make money, not to be kind to heathens. The indigenous people that they met were quite civilized and ran a peaceful society.

http://www.healing-arts.org/sp ider/tainoindians.htm

The natives were decimated in hordes by disease and enslaved by the Spanish. When this labor pool was exhausted, the Spaniards brought slaves from West Africa to work in the mines, and later, the sugar plantations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S lavery_in_the_Spanish_New_Worl d_colonies

Columbus and his cronies destroyed what they found and this continent hasn't been the same since. It's ironic that Hispanic Heritage month falls at the same time as this holiday.

In the United States, Columbus Day has become an excuse for department store and car sales, and a three day weekend for leaf peepers. Supermarkets push Italian-themed foods. Children and Federal employees get the day off from school. It's not a major holiday, and many people have to work.

Columbus Day should not be celebrated as a holiday, but instead be commemorated as a day of remembrance for the native civilizations that were destroyed in the New World. Columbus did not discover America. The natives were here long before he came, and Columbus was the instrument in the genocide of an indigenous people.

Learn more about this author, Katley Demetria Brown.
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