Christopher Columbus statue debate rises as controversial statues fall across the country

[riversedge]

Source: abc




Columbus statues were defaced in Virginia and Boston.

June 10, 2020, 3:42 PM


As cities and organizations across the country continue to take down monuments, memorials and other symbols of hate, one controversial historical figure has come back into the spotlight: Christopher Columbus.

While the debate over the controversial European explorer reignited, some of his opponents have already taken bold action to his memorials.


On Tuesday night, a Columbus statue in Richmond, Virginia, was torn down by protesters, set on fire and then submerged into a lake, police said. Overnight Tuesday, another Columbus statue in Boston was decapitated, according to Boston police.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/christopher-columbus-statue-debate-rises-controversial-statues-fall/story?id=71172075

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A decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus stands in Christopher Columbus Park in Boston, June 10, 2020. The statue's head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonizers continues to sweep across the U.S.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

[tblue37]

1. Not just defaced. One was "deheaded." nt

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Columbus statues are a disgrace...a complete and utter DISGRACE...

he was guilt of genocide and child molestation. That America has given HIM a national holiday is absolutely disgusting.

[cstanleytech]

3. The genocide was more due to negligence from what I read as part of his real interest was in

enslaving the native population and dead people make poor slaves.

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. You can make up your own mind...I have made mine.

When Columbus and his crew arrived on their second visit to Hispaniola, however, they took captive about two thousand local villagers who had come out to greet them. Cuneo wrote: "When our caravels… where to leave for Spain, we gathered…one thousand six hundred male and female persons of those Indians, and these we embarked in our caravels on February 17, 1495…For those who remained, we let it be known (to the Spaniards who manned the island's fort) in the vicinity that anyone who wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done."

Cuneo further notes that he himself took a beautiful teenage Carib girl as his personal slave, a gift from Columbus himself, but that when he attempted to have sex with her, she "resisted with all her strength." So, in his own words, he "thrashed her mercilessly and raped her."

https://www.thomhartmann.com/articles/2004/10/columbus-day-celebration-think-again

[cstanleytech]

5. I am not arguing that he was not a horrible person I am simply pointing out that the genocide

accusation was more likely due to negligence because his interest was more in enslaving the native peoples than in actually killing them all as he wanted wealth and power at any cost.
After all he originally set to reach asia for its spices and when that didnt pan out he decided slavery was the best route.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. It was still genocide, right?

[cstanleytech]

7. If that was his intent sure but proving that would be difficult given that he is dead.

Did it help lead to that? Well sure but given the exploration going on at the time from europe someone was going to be making that journey and I suspect they would have tried to enslave the native population as well though if they had more knowledge of disease they might have handled that better.
After all its the diseases that were introduced that killed so many of the native population.

[Backseat Driver]

8. It was my impression that he brought with himself and his ships,

epidemic illnesses unknown in the New World and slavery of the local inhabitants. Great mythology has been written into history books that is not worth celebrating.

[tclambert]

9. What are we gonna do about Coumbus, Ohio, or the Columbia River?

In South America, there's a whole country named after Columbus.

[Bayard]

10. Turn Columbus Day into Native Peoples Day

And re-write the history books with the truth.

[JudyM]

15. This would be an opportune time to do that, in terms of heightened awareness and openness to change.

[TheFourthMind]

11. Did Columbus ever set foot in North America? And if not, why the statues? n/t

[dalton99a]

12. Precisely.

Besides, you don't honor a homicidal maniac

[TheFourthMind]

14. And then there's that.

And I hear people in the US talk about celebrating Italian heritage, particularly when defending Columbus. Why not celebrate one of the four million Italians that immigrated to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? I'm sure there were many Italian ancestors deserving of a statue in the US that actually set foot here, struggled here, and made a life here.

[cstanleytech]

17. Its largely because of his rediscovery for Europe that there was another land between Asia

and Europe.
To be honest if you are going to celebrate the discovery of North America a more accurate celebration would be for the native americans.

[RT Atlanta]

13. bring 'em down

columbus was horrible to our indigenous people. Rename 'columbus day' Indigenous Peoples day or something to that effect and let's stop glossing over the atrocities that dude perpetrated.....

[Steelrolled]

16. Makes me wonder where this will go

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0405

This is not news to me, but I was surprised by the number.