Columbus sailed for India found Salvador instead
he shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead
they got TB and typhoid and athletes foot, diphtheria and the flu
'Scuse me, great nations comin' through
-"Great Nations of Europe" by Randy Newman
One of my Anthropologist friends and I got into a conversation today about how Columbus Day shouldn't actually be a holiday. And certainly not in the "yay for the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria" kind of way. I respect the courage it took to look for an all-water route to India from Europe, to sail into those unknown waters. But when we teach our children about it, I think it's also important to teach them about the consequences. I can't honestly completely begrudge European settlement of the Americas, because if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here, but that doesn't mean it didn't cause a lot of pain and suffering.
Also, the notion of granting Columbus credit for "discovering" anything is kind of ridiculous. And, no, not because the Vikings got to Canada before he made it to the Caribbean. But because the native people of the Americas knew that their land existed. Things aren't hidden just because a European has never seen them, Columbus didn't discover American anymore than Dr. Livingstone discovered Victoria Falls.
Of course, most people are just happy to have a three-day weekend...
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