Today, many kids and adults alike are off from their daily obligation(s) because on this day, Columbus stepped on a piece of land he thought was India and met beautiful people he thought were Indians.
And thus, his discovery started a chain of genocide, oppression, and the dehumanization of the original Americans- the Native Americans.
Columbus himself doesn’t even deserve the credit for “discovering” America, or even being the first outsider to enter America. Groups like the Vikings, Phoenicians, and West Africans had stepped on this land hundreds of years before Spain funded the voyage.
Columbus started the slave-trade to America and a great mass-murder. He treated the Native Americans as commodities, forced them into slavery, dehumanized them, and killed them in a fashion similar to what an animal would endure.
Native Americans aren’t silent on their opinion on Columbus or the thousands that took their land and pronounced it their own. On Thanksgiving, when Americans are wolfing down a turkey and raising their obesity rates, the Native Americans on their reservations are going through their Day of Mourning.
If someone mourns the arrival of their own species, it is a very powerful message that clearly proves that their treatment wasn’t at all humanitarian.
Are we teaching our children that genocide is acceptable, as long as you’re not the one being slaughtered? Are we teaching them that oppression and dehumanization is tolerable?
Some cities and people, like Angelina Jolie, have chosen to not even acknowledge this day due to the cruel treatment that Columbus gave to the Native Americans. Instead, some cities have chosen to instead celebrate Italian Culture Day.
History, of course, can’t be changed. We can choose to learn from it, though. I want for it to never happen again, whether it is something as how Americans treat delinquents or immigrants, or something as far fetched as extraterrestrials. History has a lot to do with each individual on this face of the Earth. We just have to make sure that each individual learns from it on a personal level.
This is why I wrote to Obama, Rick Perry, and Ted Cruz. I wrote to Rick Perry and Ted Cruz since I live in Texas. I wanted to tell them that I didn’t approve of this day and asked them to instead change Columbus Day to Italian Culture Day.
Obama sent back a letter with a picture of him and Michelle. I glowered at the letter.
Seriously? I bought a 46-cent stamp to get an automated response and some picture?
“Obama,” I sighed, “make a change for once and at least write back with that left hand of yours. I mean, you should know better than that. Your tribe in Kenya is raging right now because they want their idiot back…. Now, I’m not saying that you’re an idiot, but if you drew that conclusion from my last statement, well. I’m not taking it back.”
Rick Perry said it was an honor to be an American. Rick. Perry. You know, I used to doubt that if you knew how to read. Now I know that you don’t even know how to write, because someone else clearly did it for you. And that someone else can’t read also, because I basically wrote on how Americans were total jerks to the Native Americans. And to say that it’s an honor?
Ted Cruz didn’t even respond. I’m pretty sure he read it and I got on his nerves. I talked about how my stepdad worked for the government. I was just trying to find a common ground. A week later, my stepdad was at home, grumbling about the government shutdown. I see how it is, Mr. Cruz. You sure know how to cast your revenge plans. Me and my four eyes will be watching you.
Six eyes, actually. I recently got contacts.
Me and my six eyes will be watching you. And the nation’s eyes will be watching Washington and every one that sits in a white building and makes decisions for a living.
Make a move.
You had no problem moving the Native Americans anyways.
This post was written in inspiration from the following muses:
“Reconsider Columbus Day”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8sS2CEp3hM
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/writing-challenge-history/
“Christopher Columbus and the Indian Identity Mishap”
The Anonymous Muse 