Columbus Day is a reminder that nothing exists until a white guy “discovers” it

[Judi Lynn]

Columbus Day is a reminder that nothing exists until a white guy “discovers” it



Written by
Jake Flanagin
4 hours ago

At this point, it’s pretty much common knowledge that Christopher Columbus was not, in fact, the first European to come to the New World. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of Norse settlements in Newfoundland, Canada, dating as far back as the ninth century. Meanwhile recently uncovered DNA evidence suggests Polynesians landed on South American shores almost a century before the Nina, the Pinta, or the Santa Maria.

Yet to suggest that any of these parties—Columbus or the Vikings or the Polynesians—“discovered” the Americas is not simply revisionism; it’s flat-out incorrect.

We know that Native Americans were living in the Americas for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. We know their ancestors crossed the Bering Land Bridge from northeastern Asia, and in the ensuing 10,000 to 15,000 years populated the New World with civilizations as diverse and distinct as the Mayans, the Inuit, and the Mapuche.

And yet, we still honor Christopher Columbus, an Italian in the employ of the Spanish crown, for ostensibly “discovering” the Americas. Why? Because our historiographical language maintains that, unless a white dude knows about a place, it doesn’t exist. Unless it’s documented in the Spanish royal archives, or the record books of the Dutch East India Company, or the Bible, it’s not a thing. It isn’t real.

Cities across the United States and Canada are finally starting to wake up to the damage wrought by Columbus’s expedition, acknowledging why it’s wrong to blindly worship a man for essentially jump-starting the systemic extermination of two continents worth of indigenous societies. Several of these cities have begun to institute Indigenous Peoples’ Day in its place. And that’s a step in the right direction.

More:
http://qz.com/521321/columbus-day-is-a-reminder-that-nothing-exists-until-a-white-guy-discovers-it/

Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016134202