Thread: Genocide Memorial on Columbus Day

More from the multicultural crowd. Just what do we teach in our schools? This is from tolerance.org which is an arm of the SPLC. The SPLC has much influence in our schools and our government.


Oct. 13, 2003 -- Michelle Montoya questions the holiday celebrating a man whose actions and ideals ignited the very beginnings of racism in the Americas.

By Michelle Montoya, Age 17

Since childhood, the notion that Christopher Columbus is a man to be celebrated has been forced into all our heads.

Many people hail Columbus for his discovery because from it evolved modern civilization and the United States, with its glorious past of liberty, equality and the invention of microwave ovens.

Some of Columbus' supporters scoff at Native American activists and "politically correct" liberals for protesting the celebration of Columbus Day. Those who scoff prove how naïve they are. We celebrate a day dedicated to a man who encouraged racism and oppression and who committed the worst atrocity that can ever befall mankind — genocide.

In some respects, Columbus can be compared to Hitler. Both encouraged racist, violent acts against groups they considered inferior. American Indian activist Russell Means has said, "Columbus makes Hitler look like a juvenile delinquent." Certainly, Columbus' ideas killed millions of more people then Hitler's ever did.

From almost the moment Columbus landed in the New World, he and his men committed horrendous acts against the Native Americans, igniting the beginning of racism in the Americas. In A Short Account Of The Destruction Of the Indies, Bartolome de Las Casas describes the slaughter:

[The Spaniards] forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords... They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke... they grabbed suckling infants by the feet... and dashed them headlong against the rocks.

The way they normally dealt with the native leaders and nobles was to tie them to a kind of griddle...and then grill them over a slow fire, with the result that they howled in agony and despair as they died a lingering death.

The United States should abolish Columbus Day. It is a symbol of ignorance. It is a symbol of racism. And, it is a symbol of Native American genocide.

To me, celebrating Columbus Day is like celebrating "Hitler Day." Some might argue that Hitler did great things for Germany despite the killings and atrocities he committed. And for other reasons, some might believe that Columbus himself was a great man. I think the day should be abolished because of the racism, oppression and genocide that it stands for.

Columbus was not the only person who believed the world was round nor was he the first to venture out into the unknown. If we celebrate Columbus Day based solely on the fact that he accidentally discovered the Americas and from this discovery evolved the United States, we prove how closed-minded we are. How can we ignore everything else?

We should be proud of the United States and all that it stands for. But we should not cover up the mistakes it took to get here. Celebrating Columbus Day does just that. It glorifies the good and covers up the bad.

Holidays in this nation should be reserved for people who really deserve them. They should not recognize a man whose actions and ideals killed more people than Adolph Hitler. Christopher Columbus is no comparison to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr.

We need to abolish Columbus Day. In doing so, we take step toward acknowledging our past, no matter how bad our mistakes may have been.

http://www.tolerance.org/teens/stories/ ... .jsp?ar=63

Originally Posted by AlturaCt

Holidays in this nation should be reserved for people who really deserve them. They should not recognize a man whose actions and ideals killed more people than Adolph Hitler. Christopher Columbus is no comparison to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr.

With their hostility towards anything European, I wonder who they consider worthy of recognition.

This denegrating of Columbus is one more attempt to undermine Western culture. One by one they knock down all of our heroes and icons until we have nothing but shame over our ancestor's past "sins." Today it is Columbus, then eventually Washington, Jefferson, and anyone else they don't approve of. Then comes the reparations and "pay back."

Time to start pointing out what their ancestors were doing for yucks. These native tribes devised tortures for each other that would make Hitler look like a boy scout. If they are going to harp on the sins of my ancestors, then let's talk about theirs, too. I won't hold my breath waiting for that part of history to be taught in the schools.

The fact is that history is fraught with war, violence, and conquest. I'm sick and tired of only one group being blamed for all of the evil that ever existed in the world. They don't understand human nature. Even the self-haters will eventually tire of hating themselves and the worm will turn.

This denegrating of Columbus is one more attempt to undermine Western culture. One by one they knock down all of our heroes and icons until we have nothing but shame over our ancestor's past "sins." Today it is Columbus, then eventually Washington, Jefferson, and anyone else they don't approve of. Then comes the reparations and "pay back."

Well said! Tear us down one by one. A strong Western culture is about all that stands in the way of the globalization which is before us.

Even the self-haters will eventually tire of hating themselves and the worm will turn.

One can only hope! I won't play their game anymore. I have nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. Western culture has produced much of what is good in this world. You will not hold me/us hostage by some skewed sense of what you deem right/wrong. You want to start looking at skeletons in the closet? We can go tit for tat because no culture has a lock on what today would be deemed unacceptable behavior. IF you don't want to be a part of it then go the hell away. Leave in peace or not but leave!

The tolerance site quoted above is quite interesting. I found a map of "hate groups".

http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html

Then I started exploring the site more and found this:

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activiti ... jsp?ar=713

Learning the truth about U.S. history can be painful for white students. White people -- people of European descent -- were overwhelmingly responsible for the enslavement of Africans in "colonial America." White people created, legislated and embraced apartheid, barring African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos from full participation in civic life for decades, and in some cases, centuries. White people orchestrated a literal and cultural genocide of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.
Today, white people continue to reap the benefits of such systematic oppression, while people of color continue to suffer from it. The typical white family in the U.S., for example, possesses a net worth more than seven times that of the typical black family, a reality stemming in part from the "head start that whites have enjoyed in accumulating and passing on assets." And then there are appalling reminders that white racism is no thing of the past -- like a U.S. Congressman's recent address to a known hate group.

Many white students respond to such historical and contemporary truths with denial, anger, guilt or shame. Others become alienated, failing to see a place for themselves in a multicultural nation. In the words of one white student, "Who would be proud of a history like that?"

And yet, there is another legacy of whiteness in the United States: throughout history, and today, white people have aligned themselves with people of color and taken a stand against racism, ethnocentrism and nativism. And these narratives are important for white youth to know so they might develop healthy and relational white racial identities.

This edition of The ABCs (The Anti-Bias Classroom) aims to equip educators with tools and resources to help white students understand there is a place for them -- for their voices, for their involvement -- in a multicultural United States. Classroom focus on white anti-racism should not downplay or replace emphases on peoples of color. Instead, resources like those provided here can add elements to traditional multicultural/anti-bias instruction, providing white students with much-needed information about their proud heritage of anti-racist activism.

There is more to the article-this is just the first page. The congressman mentioned above is Tom Tancredo.

AlturaCT is right when he said

Tear us down one by one. A strong Western culture is about all that stands in the way of the globalization which is before us.

What I can gather from their agenda is that white students are only to feel proud of themselves in as much as they or other white people have participated in "anti-racist" activities (as defined by the multiculturalists). They need not feel good or proud about themselves based upon any other criteria.

My take is as a white person I should crawl under a rock in shame and die.

Everyday I see things more and more outrageous. God help the white children that are being taught this BS. I urge anyone with children to homeschool. The more I see the more I know our decision to homeschool is the only option for our children.