Howard Zinn and the Rest of the Story

Yesterday Reverend Wendy Pantoja got a little bit exercised over Columbus Day.  The real discoverer of America was Leif Ericsson if you believe the Scandinavians but that isn't today's lesson folks.

Columbus and his treatment of the folks already in the Caribbean was not very Christian.

Reverend Wendy of the UU Miami is not alone in her concern about Columbus Day.

By Chris Legband / Breeze Editor

Believe it or not, Native American people typically don’t celebrate the day they were enslaved, exploited and nearly exterminated on the supposed day in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on a small island in the Caribbean Sea.

Although the historical perspective and record largely shows that Europeans took what they wanted in terms of resources and exploited Native peoples through enslavement and genocide, the more polished portrayal is that of a quaint first Thanksgiving dinner between Natives and Europeans.

The bottom line is that without our contributions they would not have survived. What history misses is the abuse and murder this man inflicted on the Native people.

And we celebrate him?

Ms Legband is a member of the Ponca Tribe in Nebraska and wrote this and some more for the Omaha World-Herald.

My own feelings on this and a lot of other things about history and a lot of other stuff we hold near and dear to our hearts is to be careful when we celebrate them.  There is usually a different point of view.

Howard Zinn,  Author of A People's History of the United States, deserves a big shout out for this book written in 1980.  Some might call him one of the first spin doctors, and even they are entitled to their opinion.

All things considered: Stone Mountain with Jeff Davis, Bobby Lee, and Stonewall Jackson makes Mount Rushmore look small if you only compare the size of things.  Being a Yankee, I also think that losing the Civil War makes this a state park in Georgia and not an amazing piece of sculpture on a very large scale.

The UU's are calling for the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous People Day.  Rather than replacing one group with another I would favor a "civic holiday" that celebrates everyone's contributions to this country.  A holiday in August celebrated by picnics, parties, shopping and a day off.  Manitoba does this the first Monday in October and gives the various cultures and heritages in Canada a reason to strut their stuff.