We Need to Talk About Columbus..

The online world is an infinite source of information that allows even the most isolated hermit to stay connected. Through my own exciting journey of online exploration, I ended up getting lost within the dark and unpleasant history of Christopher Columbus. I quickly discovered how society has been lied to, and not only once, but twice! The idea of the heroic navigator who peacefully founded North America has been debunked for years, even in the eyes of many kids still in elementary school. But, the story of Columbus does not end with him practically causing the genocide of millions. The many accomplishments that are still linked to Columbus are also untrue. After poorly calculating his intended sea route, he arrived in the area of the Caribbean Islands- not North America. In fact, Columbus never sailed to any modern territory of the United States. He was also beat by the viking, Leif Eriksson, in arriving in the West. Instead, he violently murdered the Native population while robbing them of everything they had. So, Columbus died without accomplishing anything but mass murder and discovering land that was already inhabited. In the end, he was not the first European to reach the Western Hemisphere and he did not set foot in North American territory. He did, on the other hand, cause the death of hundreds of thousands of Taino people and the millions of Native Americans after him.

      

 The celebration of Christopher Columbus is especially absurd when indigenous culture is being ignored. People today know  “...little about the thousands of years of indigenous civilization that existed before European colonization”(npr). The constant overshadowing of native culture puts Native Americans at a disadvantage in being heard. In Indian Education, Sherman Alexie reveals his struggles of growing up in a white dominated world. He shares his “...most valuable lesson about living in a white world: Always throw the first punch”(Alexie). Alexie is acknowledging the importance of his voice and standing up for himself and his culture. From someone like myself who shies away from speaking out, Alexie's work is inspiring and contributes to greater representation of native culture. The celebration of writers like Sherman Alexie along with the history and contributions of native people should replace the admiration of Columbus and his horrific actions.