We should never forget about the crimes of Christopher Columbus and his fellow imperialists. Columbus was no hero. He was a criminal. We always honor those who expose the evil actions of this pirate and deceiver Christopher Columbus. In our generation, more and more people increasingly know the truth about Columbus. Columbus exploited religion to promote greed and a blood lust for gold and an exploitation of innocent human lives. Some good news is that recently Seattle and Minneapolis both abandoned Columbus Day in favor of celebrating the humanity of Indigenous peoples. Even Bartolome de Las Casas has documented the evil Spanish conquest of the Americas. As Native Americans are fighting heroically against a pipeline being built in South Dakota today, we must acknowledge their ancestors’ pain in order for us to show more compassion for fellow innocent human beings. Columbus got the funds for his explorations to reach Asia by the seizure and sale of properties from Spanish Jewish people and Muslims by the order of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Both the King and the Queen allowed him to explore the Americas with money and ships. Columbus offered a reward of 10,000 maravedis or about $540 (a sailor’s yearly salary) for the first person to discover such land. Though another sailor saw the land in October 1492, Columbus retracted the reward he had previously offered because he claimed he had seen a dim light in the west. Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America. Leif Ericson traveled into North America before Columbus. Also, Native Americans lived in America thousands of years before Columbus was born. Columbus never traveled into American soil in the United States. He traveled into the Caribbean. He went into the Bahamas and later into Hispaniola (or Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Columbus and his Spaniard allies met the Arawaks, the Tainos, and Lucayans. They were friendly according to Columbus’ writings. After arriving, Columbus wrecked the Santa Maria and the Arawaks worked for hours to save the crew and cargo.
Columbus admitted his own crimes in his own writings. He wrote the following words: “…As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” It is no secret that many imperialists raped and sexually abused Native Americans. Columbus traveled into the Caribbean 4 times. He also admitted that he wanted the following from Native Americans: “…Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” A close friend of Columbus named Michele de Cuneo admitted to aping a Native American woman in the Caribbean. The Spanish imperialists cut Native Americans, beheaded them, put them in boiling soap, and doing things to infants that I can’t mention here. Bartolome De Las Casas, a former slave owner who became Bishop of Chiapas, described these exploits. “Such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight as no age can parallel,” he wrote. “My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature that now I tremble as I write.” Columbus enslaved many Native Americans for the sake of lusting for gold. He forced Native Americans to work in gold mines. Thousands of Native Americans were killed in 2 year’s time. Columbus was so evil that he did nothing to stop sex slavery and other atrocities against Native Americans. In 1500, he wrote: “…A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand.” So, many imperialists promoted pedophilia, which is sick. Many imperialists used Native American people as dog food. Live babies were also fed to these war dogs as sport, sometimes in front of horrified parents. After a multitude of complaints against Columbus about his mismanagement of the island of Hispaniola, a royal commissioner arrested Columbus in 1500 and brought him back to Spain in chains. Though he was stripped of his governor title, he was pardoned by King Ferdinand, who then subsidized a fourth voyage. Therefore, Christopher Columbus was never a real hero. We should respect the Native Americans who fought for justice and change in the Americas.
Clarence Thomas is one of those people who hypocritically lectures progressive black people about opposing affirmative action, but he benefited from it. He supported a Supreme Court decision that gutted part of the Voting Rights Act. Any person who does that (regardless of race) is a person that I have no respect for. I respect those who want or don't want him to be mentioned in the African American museum. If he should be included, it should be under the aegis of him representing the right wing backlash against black progress in our society. Also, he supported many decisions that goes against the interests of many black Americans. Many of the same white conservatives who want to defend Clarence Thomas (and they love to try to shame black people into following acquiesce to their standards) are the same ones who want to justify the criminal actions of Washington, Jefferson, and Columbus. Therefore, Black History matters and the truth matters. There is no excuse in my mind for anyone to vote for Trump. He has encouraged violence against protesters. His running mate is a man who said in 1997 that working mothers stun the emotional growth of children. Trump has also in his comments blatantly advocated the sexual assault of women. His comments are grotesque, evil, and it's antithetical to any form of decency. We always knew that Trump is not a real man. A real man never plots to try to cheat on his wife and uses vulgar language to denigrate woman. Trump is using damage control in trying to defend his evil campaign. He has never apologized to the military family that he degraded. He never apologized to the Central Park Five in slandering them even recently when the Central Park Five are innocent. He has never apologized for his Muslim ban plan either. So, Trump doesn't have my vote.
We have come to this. For months, many progressive people warned that Donald Trump’s extremism, bigotry, and callousness makes him not fit to be President. Today, finally, many GOP leaders have condemned Trump and refuse to vote for him. He has made many outrageous comments before. A 2005 videotape found Trump making evil, sexist, and outrageous comments about women. Trump not only said that he wanted to comment adultery. He condoned sexual assault against a woman. I find that to be deplorable. He issued his faux apology in order to maintain his standing, but more and more people (from across political ideologies and backgrounds) have spoken uniformly that Trump should never be President. Trump’s hate speech is evil and his arrogance is truly sickening. He claims to be independent, but he made his fortune by allying with the same Wall Street bankers that some were involved in financial corruption. He supports other nations having nuclear weapons and he refuses to view the Central Park Five as innocent. Many people want Trump to step down and he should step down. America deserves better than this. We know that the Senate could be in the hands of the Democrats after the election. Even the House Majority of Republicans now are at risk since Trump is the face of the Republican Party. John McCain, Mitt Romney, and other GOP members have publicly stated that they won’t vote for Donald Trump. Also, Billy Bush is wrong for refusing to condemn Trump for his over the top comments. More men have to stand up and speak up against misogyny period. Also, more men must condemn misogynoir too as black women deserve dignity and respect just like any other human being. We see the events in Syria, Iraq (where the Kurds and the Iraqi Army are fighting ISIS), America, and other places. Therefore, we desire living wages, an end to imperialism, and social justice.
By Timothy
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