Happy Columbus Day! Despite everything the Left has told you, Christopher Columbus is a notable folk hero for minorities in America. In fact, he was one of America’s first ethnic folk heroes. He was used as a symbol of patriotism and pride when Catholics fought against racist Ku Klux Klan members at the turn of the 20th century. But American Democrats don't seem to remember or care. Lets talk about that for a moment, shall we?
Unlike Halloween, May Day and International Women’s Day, Columbus Day is a rather unpopular holiday in 2019. Columbus Day in 2019 is about as unpopular as BBQ sauce on a Texas brisket [people outside Texas won’t understand that joke so if you’re reading/hearing this in Chicago just pretend I said, “about as unpopular as ketchup on a Chicago hotdog”].
Most of you probably know the story of Earth Day, another holiday with a confusing past: a peace-loving hippie named Ira Einhorn was very concerned about pollution and overpopulation issues so he and his hippie friends created a holiday to help protect the Earth. The event helped Ira make a name for himself as a Leftist activist on a national level. Later on he became even more famous when he killed his lover and shoved her decomposing body in a trunk. Despite his violent history, Earth Day remains a notable and beloved liberal holiday.
Now as the politically-correct social justice warriors of America seek to eliminate Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous People Day, it’s worth pointing out that one of the founders of this movement was just as morally-reprehensible as Ira.
The first major political leader in America to sign legislation transforming Columbus Day into Indigenous People Day was former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. It happened in 2014. Other mayors of smaller cities had passed similar laws in previous years [Berkley and Santa Cruz in the 90s, and Minneapolis a couple of weeks before Seattle] but no city as well-populated as the home of the Space Needle, or politician as influential as Ed Murray, had yet got on board with the Indigenous-Peoples-Day-movement.
Today, while some Americans honor Christopher Columbus, Seattle residents will follow in the footsteps of their former political leader by honoring Indigenous Persons and spitting on the grave of Columbus [ironically, Columbus was an indigenous person from Italy but for some reason when Leftists refer to "indigenous people" they're never talking about people with lightly-pigmented skin].
However Ed Murray very likely won't be celebrating with his fellow Seattle residents. He's still dealing with the aftermath of his 2017 political scandal in which it was revealed he may have raped as many as five underage boys. Yes, folks, much like the founder of Earth Day, one of the leading founders of Indigenous Peoples Day is not a good compass for morality.
But on the subject of “Indigenous People Day”, what the heck does that statement mean, anyway?
Just so we're clear, technically everyone is an indigenous person from somewhere. The definition of "indigenous" means, "originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native." The definition of that word is just vague enough that it actually applies to just about everyone on Earth. But even still, when liberals use the word they're only referring to darker-skinned people from marginalized communities [and they're definitely not talking about Christopher Columbus].
However, as much as the Left wants us to hate Christopher Columbus, their opinions of him are just as distorted as the lessons we once learned about the man in 20th century public schools.
Back before Martin Luther King Jr minorities in the United States had a short list of exemplars they could admire. The first notable icon for minorities in the United States was an olive-toned man from Italy who, despite what you've heard from liberals, initially advocated for peace and harmony with the indigenous people of the New World.
Today liberals will tell you that Colombo [Columbus’ real name] killed and raped the American-Indians, but that statement is not entirely accurate. He originally tried to convince the Queen of Spain to make peace with the people in the New World. He wanted to form a colony for Spain to trade with people from India.
And since facts matter, it's relevant to point out that the indigenous people he was trying to trade with weren't even technically "Native-Americans". This is because Colombo never landed in what is now the USA. He very likely landed in Haiti, Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. The very fact that we don’t know exactly where he landed says a lot about how much we really know about the alleged crimes he was later accused of committing.
Columbus actually made four unique trips to the region. Each trip was totally different from the previous one. His first trip was very peaceful. When he returned to the colony on his second trip he discovered the men he’d left behind had been murdered. At this time his order was to defend the colony and seek revenge for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s men. He didn't have much of a choice on this one. Spain was funding his trip and the natives had killed their men.
He then made a third trip which included his brothers as passengers. Christopher's brothers weren’t as peaceful as he was – they were fighters, not explorers. Violence erupted. Accusations were made about Columbus and he was briefly detained after his third trip back to Spain but then released after he was found to be innocent and allowed to return for a fourth trip. Did people die? Yes, probably. It was a violent time in history.
But the people who died were not “Indigenous Native Americans” as so many on the Left have suggested. After all, how could Columbus have killed Native Americans if he wasn't in America? He couldn't and he didn't.
And this is also why we call him a folk-hero. The legend of Christopher Columbus (the idea that he discovered America) is based partly in truth but not totally accurate. He discovered a land mass near the United States of America, but he didn't technically discover the United States as we know it today.
That's not to say that his contributions to modern day society aren't still relevant. And it's also not unerring to say there wasn't violence after Christopher Columbus' men interacted with the natives. However, the basis in which this violence happened is often drastically misunderstood and misreported by the American Left. Christopher Columbus wasn't personally the cause of this violence. In fact, he was originally adamantly opposed to it. Many often forget that Columbus made more than one voyage to the new world.
Years later Christopher Columbus would become an important figure again, after his death, when the Catholics of America [made up of Italian and Irish minorities] would use the existence of Columbus as evidence that they were just as much a part of America's history as anyone else. And there was a need for this sentiment. At the time the hateful Ku Klux Klan members were terrorizing Catholics. Catholic-Americans were a marginalized minority group who saw Columbus as their hero. This was how the Knights of Columbus were formed.
But someone forget to tell American liberals in the 21st century. Not long ago the people of Seattle, following the lead of a notable child molester, voted to get rid of Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous People Day. This was supposed to be a slap in the face to white America. And three years later that same anti-Catholic sentiment has reared it's ugly head in Houston when a group of vandals defaced the statue of Christopher Columbus in Montrose Park. Similar attacks on statues have occurred all over the country. The Left thinks they're attacking racism, but they're engaging in the exact same behavior they claim to be against.
Columbus was bold enough to sail his ship where it had never been sailed before. This notable and brave feat helped lead the world to a society that created automobiles, airplanes, computers and modern democratic values the world over. It is for these reasons that we should honor and remember his legacy.
He may not be perfect, but who is? Stop judging him by modern day standards. It's ignorant. The rules were different back then, but his actions brought a lot more good than bad to mankind.
Christopher Columbus, a man who was once a hero to those targeted by the KKK, is now being targeted by Antifa and progressives as they attempt to take down his statues all over America. Ironically, it's hard for so-called "progressives" to understand a basic lesson from our past: if we try to erase our history we're likely doomed to repeat it [which is the opposite of progress]. But the Left is too busy honoring alleged child molesters [like Murray] and murderers [like Ira Einhorn] to notice their own shortcomings.
So much for progress.