Was America Discovered by Columbus?
By
V.A. Mohamad Ashrof, New Age Islam
17 January
2024
Christopher
Columbus (1451 – 1506) is reputed to have ‘discovered America’ as if there were
no people in America at that time. This is a historical blunder. There were so
many native people, especially Red Indians, residing there. No doubt he was
instrumental in the colonization of North America leading to what our country
is today.
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506): portrait by Jose Roldan, monastery of
La Rabida, Andalusia. Photograph: Alamy
-----
In Spain,
October 12 is the country’s appointed national day, celebrated annually as
Hispanic Day. In Italy, October 12 is National Christopher Columbus Day.
President Benjamin Harrison established a celebration of Columbus Day on the
400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in 1892. October 11 in America has been
Columbus Day -- a federal holiday -- since 1937. His name and likeness exist
all over the nation’s public landscape: on the names of street signs, cities, and
universities, as well as on monuments in public squares. The District of Columbia is named after
Christopher Columbus. Several cities, rivers, and other landmarks in America
have also been named after Columbus.
However,
the historical Columbus - borne from research and an examination of evidence -
can sometimes contrast with America’s collective memory of Columbus as a brave
and intrepid explorer, worthy of praise and admiration. In this alternate
reading, special focus was laid especially for his treatment of the indigenous
communities he encountered and for his role in the violent colonization at
their expense.
In recent years, America’s collective memory
of Columbus has been more heavily scrutinized.
The question is should we honour a man who symbolizes European
colonialism, who ushered in an era of conquering indigenous people?
As racial
reckoning occurs across the country following the death of George Floyd during
2020, many Confederate statues – which some consider racist symbols of
America’s dark legacy of slavery – have been removed. In recent years, many
cities and states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in
recognition of the pain and terror caused by Columbus and other European
explorers.
Some
historians have criticized Columbus for initiating the widespread colonization
of the Americas and for abusing its native population. (Howard Zinn, A People's
History of the United States, New York: HarperCollins, 2003, pp. 1–22)
According
to scholars of Native American history, George Tinker and Mark Freedman,
Columbus was responsible for creating a cycle of "murder, violence, and
slavery" to maximize exploitation of the Caribbean islands' resources, and
that Native deaths on the scale at which they occurred would not have been caused
by new diseases alone. Further, they describe the proposition that disease and
not genocide caused these deaths as "American holocaust denial".
(George E. Tinker, Mark Freeland, Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher
Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline, Wicazo Sa Review, Volume 23, Number
1, Spring 2008, pp. 25-50)
----
V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Islamic
humanist scholar from India who regularly publishers articles and papers in
Islam and contemporary affairs.
URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/america-discovered-columbus/d/131531
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism