Oracle Online

Columbus came not to live in harmony with native people, but to invade and possess the land.

The first thing he did upon landing in the New World was raise a Spanish flag over the island of San Salvador. He and his men were notorious for conscripting the indigenous people into forced labor for the purpose of building a settlement and mining gold to satisfy their greed. Upon returning home from his first of four voyages, he worked diligently to ensure that the Pope recognized all non-Christianized lands in the West as the property of Spain.

Following him came more explorers, bringing with them soldiers, religion, disease, and avarice.
And, centuries later, we still brand Columbus as a hero.

The following letter from the American Indian Movement of Colorado appeared in the Rocky Mountain News on Saturday, Oct. 8, 1994.

“... What occurred was neither glorious nor heroic. Just as Columbus could not, and did not, ‘discover’ a hemisphere already inhabited by nearly 100 million people, his arrival cannot, and will not, be recognized by indigenous peoples as a heroic and festive event.”

When Europeans encountered the new people, they began to believe that inherent differences separated them into a more superior category from the indigenous people. The colonists viewed the native people as demonic and savage hunters by nature, unable to properly cultivate their own land.

The social construction of race occurred within the economic context of competition over land.

The American Indian was racialized as Europeans attributed their inability to become civilized to their heritage. Some colonists assumed that the diseases that wiped out huge populations of the American Indians were caused by their resistance to Christianity. They used these fabricated beliefs as justification for the European acquisition of land.

Although the past is history and cannot be changed, the way it is told can be. It is necessary that we stop the deception. Columbus Day is yet another example of our attempt to deny this part of our violent and oppressive history.Honoring Columbus Day - the commencement of the genocide of many indigenous people in the Americas - continues the cycle of racism and oppression and invalidates the American Indian’s struggle for equality.

It is time to make a change. Eliminate the Columbus holiday, and support the leaders of the American Indian Movement, who advocate replacing Columbus Day with a celebration that more accurately reflects the United States’ cultural and racial richness. Several states, including
Louisiana and South Dakota, have replaced the Columbus holiday with a day to honor American Indians. It is time to resist racism and oppression. It is time to work together to honor the struggles of all people who call themselves American.