On Columbus Day Americans celebrate the man associated with the greatest genocide known in history - Cristobal Columbus. If he were alive today, CC would be the poster child for Wall Street, a man who stopped at nothing— not even exploitation, slavery or twisting Biblical scripture— to advance his ambitions.
You won't find mention in US history books that CC is reviled in Latin America because he brought slavery, enormous exploitation and devastating diseases to the Americas. He practiced class warfare, as noted in his logbook about Indians - "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.... They would make fine servants.... With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." (Enron would be so proud) In 1495, during the Second Voyage, Indians were transported to Spain as slaves, many dying en route. "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity" Columbus later wrote, "go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
In the most important contemporary documentary evidence is the multi-volume History of the Indies by the Catholic priest Bartolomé de las Casas who observed the region where Columbus was governor. In contrast to "the myth," Las Casas describes Spaniards driven by "insatiable greed" — "killing, terrorizing, afflicting, and torturing the native peoples" with "the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty" and how systematic violence was aimed at preventing "Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings." The Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades", wrote Las Casas. "My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write."
Goodbye Columbus: The largest ecumenical body in the United States, the National Council of Churches, called on Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quincentennial, saying, "What represented newness of freedom, hope, and opportunity for some was the occasion for oppression, degradation and genocide for others." This could have been avoided if the indiginous peoples told the lost mariner, get back on your boat, and say Goodbye Columbus. It's too late for the Indians, but not for the 99 percent of US:
Hello life, goodbye Columbus
I've got a feelin' that you're gonna hear from us
You're gonna know that we've taken the world by surprise
Got that look in our eyes
Its a lucky day, just for changin'
Leavin' the old world behind
Lucky day for walkin' a new road
Just to clear your mind
It's a day for startin' a new way
Tellin' the old one goodbye
Lucky day for gettin' above it
Spread your wings and fly
Goodbye, goodbye Columbus
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