Skip to content
Menu
Planet Stahl
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • My account
  • Scholorship Fund
  • Shop
  • Candidate Stahl
    • Campaign Donations
Planet Stahl

Columbus Day in 2020

Posted on October 12, 2020October 11, 2021

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492…

So the tale goes.  That story of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria were a staple of growing up in a 1970’s pre-politically correct United States.  We regaled in stories of a man who was on his last doubloon and found a Queen of Spain that was charmed by salesmanship.  He proved all the naysayers wrong and became one of those underdog stories that people love to hear and celebrate.  Screw the haters!  Columbus did it on faith (and luck)!

I even recall celebrating Leif Erickson day as a youth.   October 9th BTW.  Leif was the Viking who came to North America 500 years before Chris and his three boats ever made landfall.  Maybe it’s the result of a midwestern education…  But I know we talked about it.   I have brought up his name to some millennials at work and they have no idea who he is.  I can’t be the only one who remembers this?


Well, Columbus is not “in” anymore.

As of a few weeks ago, the Peoria City Council agreed to pay 18,000 dollars to a local contractor to remove the Columbus statue from Bradley Park because of his un-repented crimes against humanity.  18K that could have been used for any number of public uses…  From a city that borrows money every year to pay its bills.  Was there a major uproar?  Was there outrage in the streets?  Maybe the council avoided some terrible conflict by proactively removing this statue?

As someone who visited Plymouth Rock a few years ago… I can tell you that sometimes the best medicine in a situation like this is “equal time”.  At the site of the Pilgrim’s landing spot in the new world, native American tribes have set up memorials to condemn the theft of native lands and tell the story of those who didn’t survive the disease or guns of the early settlers.   It was sobering and kinda brought you to reality after seeing the goofy rock sitting in a stone chapel by the sea.  The visit to this iconic spot was not what I spent a lifetime imagining!

Why couldn’t the city spend that 18K on a statue or representation of native Americans’ struggles post-Columbus?  Instead, we tear down everything, and future generations learn nothing?  Where’s the value in that?  Ignore the past and it will go away?

In my mind…  Columbus was a symbol for those who risked everything and showed that the human spirit can endure when on a quest.  History is written by the victors and its obvious that North America was never the same since his first visit.  Regardless of that, I think that destroying the holiday based on his legacy is a misstep and a loss for educators and our youth.

Why not celebrate exploration?

Why not use this day every year to talk about those people in history who have given everything on the quest to reach the unknown?  Astronauts from Apollo to todays generation.   Deep sea explorers.  Mountain Climbers.  You name it.  We can talk about the great explorers of yesteryear who used wicker snowshoes to reach the artic circle… On the complete opposite side of the spectrum,  talk about those people trying to get to mars.

It’s a great opportunity to talk about what all of these people have sacrificed in their quest… And what the results were after the fact.  Not to devalue anyone’s previous land claims… But remember…  Human existence is a brutal series of territory infringements.  Just because one group says its their land… That doesn’t mean someone else wasn’t there first.  (See Jerusalem)

I would guess, and a historian can verify my thoughts or discredit them, that we are living in one of the longest periods of geopolitical stasis ever.  As extended weather conditions changed and it became less favorable to live in some areas of the world, humans would pack up the tribe and move.  Now, because of these invisible lines in the ground call borders…  We somehow have managed to keep people from journeying to where conditions are favorable to thrive?  This has to be unprecedented for our species!

Nobody talks about the fact the Vikings got their buts handed to them at the hands of the “savages” they encountered.  If Native Americans had kept a written history…  We might have stories of indigenous tribes removing Thorfinn Karlsefni and his clan of Vikings from New Foundland under a rain of arrows.

If we just had more stories told about this side of history… We might just have had a statue of a strong group of Native Americans fighting off and killing invaders in NE Canada…  And, hypothetically, the Vikings would have a little sign-off to the side explaining that they were a peaceful exploration group who were taken advantage of.

And that would be the start of a dialog.  Not lost history.

Don’t delete…  Educate.

 

 

Related

Archives

Eric Stahl

Twitter

Tweets by Planetstahl

  • May 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • January 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • February 2013
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • January 2006
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • September 2001
  • May 2001
  • April 2001
  • March 2001
  • February 2001
  • January 2001
  • December 2000
  • November 2000
  • October 2000
  • September 2000
  • August 2000
  • February 2000
  • November 1999
  • Cancer
  • Candidate Stahl
  • Digital Divide
  • Family
  • Friends
  • Grief
  • Health
  • History
  • Home Improvement
  • Libertarian
  • Local News
  • Music
  • Pets
  • Scholarship Fund
  • Social Commentary
  • St. Jude
  • Throwin' Wrenches
  • Trail Team
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Work
Eric Stahl

©2025 Planet Stahl | WordPress Theme by Superb WordPress Themes