Vanquishing Columbus

It’s funny, but not so funny… how the victors write history.  If I were to believe the history books, Columbus, like so many other powerful historical figures, was a hero.  A great conqueror who “discovered” America; apparently, the people already living here didn’t know it existed.  One of the legacies left by the great historian Howard Zinn is that he gave us all a new perspective: history written by the conquered, the marginalized, the trampled, the disenfranchised.  In other words, the truth.  No need for propaganda to rally the masses, just the unvarnished and very ugly truth about some of the people our history teachers taught us to worship and adore.

None of us are perfect.  But the varnish on some of these despots and villains is so thick, it takes a while to get through it.  Then it’s pretty embarrassing to realize that we once thought so highly of them.  And once you’ve seen the truth, you’re no longer in the mood for a good shellacking by the spin doctors who have peddled our history books.  A good example of this is Christopher Columbus.

His name is so hallowed that books that are critical of him are still banned from schools.  In January 2012, Tucson schools banned Rethinking Columbus by Bob Peterson and Bill Bigelow.  The only people who would undertake to silence truth are those who would benefit greatly from lies.  And if we are compelled to believe those lies, we are complicit in the very sorts of human rights abuses they are trying to hide, that Columbus committed, and that our nation has continued to commit, against people of color and other cultures. 

It’s an effective way to keep those people invisible – those people with faces, names, families – who were raped, tortured, murdered, and enslaved by Columbus and his men.

I am ashamed that we were never taught as children the perspective of Native Americans, who rightfully view Columbus’s arrival as an invasion that resulted in genocide.  It was only the beginning of hell for an entire continent of human beings, resulting in untold human agony.  How can we, in good conscience, celebrate this man?  To do so is to perpetuate that very harmful myth of American imperialism, and the notion that there is glory in being a bully.

This Monday is Columbus Day, and instead of honoring a murderous slave trader, let’s honor the people who deserve it.  Let’s do the right thing, and tell the truth… about the Tainos, who were raped and enslaved.  If they failed to deliver the quota of gold Columbus demanded, he had their hands cut off or had them chased down and attacked by vicious dogs.  He reveled in the sale of young Native girls as sexual slaves for his personal profit.  He was not a “brave adventurer.”  He was a rapacious terrorist with no regard for human life or dignity.

Others who feel like I do have renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day.  This Monday, I hope you will join me in celebrating Indigenous People’s Day, by committing to learn the truth about Columbus, and vowing to support indigenous peoples all over the world, who continue to be terrorized.

The Zinn Education Project (http://zinnedproject.org) has some great articles about Columbus.  To learn more about the experience of the Tainos under Columbus, visit http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/taino/taino-conquest.htm.  There are many other informative websites as well.


Let’s remove the varnish and uncover the truth.  Let’s work together to create a world where perpetrators of violence are held accountable instead of glorified.  We may not be able to change past history, but let’s not forget that we are responsible for the history our children and grandchildren will be taught.

Choosing a Tribe

It all started with Howard Zinn.  A few years ago, I stumbled across a book entitled, “A Power Governments Cannot Suppress,” by a man named Howard Zinn.  The title sounded enticing, so I did something out of character and bought it without having opened it.

The book sat idle for a few weeks as I tried to find time to read it.  I discovered it was a selection of essays, making it easier to read in bits and pieces.  I started reading a chapter each night at bedtime and was quickly hooked. 

Zinn wrote with passion, and articulated concepts I had often felt swirling wordlessly around inside me; his words were a call to action.  I felt like I saw his soul, and admired his steely resolve of integrity, combined with genuine warmth and compassion.  I found myself dog-earing pages, and underlining and starring section after section of his words.  I had found a hero.

My “do-gooder” nature over the years has earned me some good-natured ribbing and the nickname of “Mrs. Justice” from my kids, but Howard Zinn understood.  His words validated my need for “do-gooding,” but also struck a deeper chord, because Zinn was a historian extraordinaire.  He gave a voice to those historically voiceless, and I realized that they are us, and all of us depend on all of us to do something.  Anything and everything makes a difference.  As Zinn illustrated in story after story, common people like you and me were the ones who changed the world, not leaders and politicians.  Not only do we have the right to be do-gooders; we have a responsibility.  I should probably mention here that I really hated history class, and skipped school at every opportunity to avoid it; now history had come alive.

About four days into my nightly Zinn-reading routine, I had a powerful and vivid dream.  I was part of an ancient and powerful nomadic tribe, living in a plains area.  Another smaller, peaceful tribe lived nearby, and I had become friends with a little boy from that tribe, about eight years old (I’m not sure of my age or gender in this dream; I guess it wasn’t relevant).  For some time, my tribe had been tormenting this other tribe, and I watched in unspeakable horror as adults from my own tribe beat this boy brutally, then drowned him in a stream, laughing raucously.  I knew in that moment that I was leaving my tribe, to live with the smaller, weaker tribe.  I also knew the decision would result in my death, but I was at peace with that; it was better than being one of the killers, and I would die standing with MY people.

I woke in tears.  I didn’t see the outcome of the dream and didn’t need to.  I had chosen my tribe.

After that night, I began standing peace vigil, and reading and learning all I could about creating peace… writings by politicians, faith leaders, former soldiers, people living in war zones, and ordinary folks like Peace Pilgrim.  I try to be mindful every day about standing on the side of peace, and not letting down my tribe. 

I’ll leave it to you to think about who my tribe is, but if you stand for peace, I will stand with you.  I know that Howard Zinn would too.

"The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable."  Arundhati Roy