Columbus Day - Celebrate Crimes Against Humanity

Tomorrow, the second Monday of October is Columbus Day, a most horrid holiday where ppl blindly honor a cruel, mass murderer. It is time to put the honorable image of the despicable Christopher Columbus into the Trash Bin of History where it has always belonged except for the racist lies we were given as children for the past century.

Here is the true story of this sociopath from a Huffington Blog by Eric Kasum of 4 years ago:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html

And, I am a Zeitgeist kinda guy looking at past ages, but you know why Columbus was put in jail in Spain? Not some vague political disagreement - he was put there for his "Crimes Against Humanity" to the New World Natives even by the cruel standards of the late 15th Century.

Here are some excerpts:

"Columbus Day, as we know it in the United States, was invented by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization.

Columbus wasn't a hero. When he set foot on that sandy beach in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, Columbus discovered that the islands were inhabited by friendly, peaceful people called the Lucayans, Taínos and Arawaks. Writing in his diary, Columbus said they were a handsome, smart and kind people. He noted that the gentle Arawaks were remarkable for their hospitality. "They offered to share with anyone and when you ask for something, they never say no," he said. The Arawaks had no weapons; their society had neither criminals, prisons nor prisoners. They were so kind-hearted that Columbus noted in his diary that on the day the Santa Maria was shipwrecked, the Arawaks labored for hours to save his crew and cargo. The native people were so honest that not one thing was missing.

Columbus was so impressed with the hard work of these gentle islanders, that he immediately seized their land for Spain and enslaved them to work in his brutal gold mines. Within only two years, 125,000 (half of the population) of the original natives on the island were dead.

Shockingly, Columbus supervised the selling of native girls into sexual slavery. Young girls of the ages 9 to 10 were the most desired by his men. ... If an "Indian" worker did not deliver his full quota of gold dust by Columbus' deadline, soldiers would cut off the man's hands and tie them around his neck to send a message.... If a native resisted slavery, he would cut off a nose or an ear. If slaves tried to escape, Columbus had them burned alive. Other times, he sent attack dogs to hunt them down, and the dogs would tear off the arms and legs of the screaming natives while they were still alive. If the Spaniards ran short of meat to feed the dogs, Arawak babies were killed for dog food.

Columbus' reign of terror is one of the darkest chapters in our history. The REAL question is: Why do we celebrate a holiday in honor of this man? "

Hispanics call this day "Dia de la Razas" or Day of the Races. Maybe "Dia de la Raza Muerta" would be a more fitting tribute.

 

And we can add that Columbus never did reach what is now America. He only reached Espanola (What is now Cuba and Dominican Republic) and a few smaller Islands. Moreover, Columbus did not know where he was. He thought that he had reached some place near India.

 

Never look behind the "curtain". What's back there ain't pretty.

One of my republican friends when questioned about our(white) ancestors stealing the land of native americans said==" well, they weren't using it." We're damn sure using it now.

 

That's like the aboriginals in Australia. Whinge whinge whinge. But, would humanity have made the accomplishments it has if they hadn't migrated, fought for more land etc and multiculturalised? I doubt it.

 

.. from the sl this morning when I woke up on the right side the bed..

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/8-myths-and-atrocities-about-christopher-columbus-and-columbus-day-151653

 

In most of Central and South America, the population is mostly mestizo and the indigenous population is very much still discriminated against.

 

Another source on Columbus Day

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

 

to be fair, it's really only elementary schools that honor columbus at all, columbus day or otherwise. other than that, government workers honor yet another day off for no reason, and everyone else has forgotten about the guy and the holiday.

 

Hog Wash! Cabeza Del Vaca made it, Vespucci made it, and Coronado made it. Columbus did not make it.

 

North/south america n cuba n jamaica n stuff isnt usa but still is america. Vikings found america in like year 800ad or some shit. Way before columbus.

It really is strange how this dude is still honored despite what was practically genocide

 

Here in the u.s., rewriting history is commonplace, especially for political reasons (really not sure if there are other reasons). Hopefully, someday, a political party will find benefit in re-rewriting the history of columbus's business trip,and columbus day could finally become a day of the past.

 

The OP of this thread is as much as subjective and biased as the original premise that he was a hero. They locked him up because he was the supposed leader of the expedition but other people rebelled against him after they colonized some shitty swamp. Short story: this blew up in pretty much a civil war of which he the leader was regarded the one who was responsible.
When you talk about taking in account the zeitgeist and then mention he was locked up for crimes against humanity it becomes clear you don't fully take in account the zeitgeist at all because they didn't punish people for crimes against humanity like that. He also was released again after that and granted to lead an expedition to what is now called Honduras and Panama. In fact, and this is very sad in retrospect, he was not treating slaves different than most others in those days. 'Indian' (native american) and black slaves were considered heathens and from a lesser race than white europeans. This is the zeitgeist for you and Columbus was born into that time and indoctrinated with that mindset (of course they didn't know about injuns before his travels but you get the picture). I'm not saying this to condone his and his men's malpractices but if you want to put historic events and people in the correct and most objective perspective you were taking it a bit too far to the other extreme.. well especially if you take the zeitgeist into account. Did you read the original source that gave us insight in these atrocities? The huffington post article leaves more questions than answers (imo). It seems it is based on the accounts of Bartolome de las Casas, very interesting stuff. I'm gonna look it up!

 

I'm sorry but reviewing history is commonplace globally as it should be and it is not solely done for political reasons (as it was often subject to originally, you know the saying it is written by the victors, so it only make sense to study and review when possible).

 

Why sorry?

In the u.s. rewriting history is often different from reviewing.

 

Do you want to get to it then people from Asia or Europe were the 1st to find America well before the Vikings came here. But what Columbus did was help author in a new age of exploration which got people over to America.

 

Yeah.... and the banks were closed.

 

All I know is what I read in the two linked articles. I am not a historian and did not delve into the minutiae of the period

What I wrote was:

I am a Zeitgeist kinda guy looking at past ages, but you know why Columbus was put in jail in Spain? Not some vague political disagreement - he was put there for his "Crimes Against Humanity" to the New World Natives even by the cruel standards of the late 15th Century.

Yes, I am aware that Crimes Against Humanity is a modern concept - could be why I put it in quotes. Also, I did make reference to the spirit of that time, which was quite barbaric and cruel, especially in Spain where the Inquisition was more fervent than other parts of Europe.

I understood that Ferdinand & Isabela pardoned and released him and sent him on another expedition because he was delivering gold from the New World. In other words pretty much like the Zeitgeist of today, where money grants all sorts of privilege and pardons.

 

he was no Magellan...

 

He was no Lief Erikson either.