Dear Mayor de Blasio,
Within the past few decades, and especially recently, we have seen a great deal of controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus and whether we should celebrate a holiday named after him. New York City also happens to have a statue of the historical figure of the historical, which you are aware of due to the commission that recommended it remain in its prominent location, among other things. However, I disagree with this inaction and believe it is time to denounce this horrific individual, who is a stain on both Indigenous and Italian-American history.
It is critical to a healthy discussion that we are able to comprehend the actions that Columbus himself actually committed and put them into historical context. Columbus arrived in Haiti in 1492, expecting to arrive in the Indies. During his four visits to Carribean islands and the South American continent, Columbus led the developing of multiple colonies. Using the justification that they were bringing Christianity and civilization to the natives, Columbus's crew committed horrible atrocities against these ingenious peoples, including, but not limited to, the Taino. The Taino inhabited modern-day Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Once Columbus and his crew arrived in the New World, the Taino were enslaved, tortured, and massacred. According to Bartolome de Las Casas, the Spaniards “spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughterhouse”. Natives were also hung slightly above the ground in groups of 13, representing Jesus and his 12 apostles, and burnt to death from their feet. The hands of those who the Spaniards wanted to spare were slashed off and stuck to their neck, in order to send a message to those who fled. These methods were obviously not necessary, as the Taino had objectively inferior technology and weapons. The population sharply decreased in the decades afterward, from one or two million in 1490, before the Spanish arrived, to less than a couple thousand in 1520. Of course, disease was a great part of this sharp decline, but genocide was also a major contributor. According to Britannica, the Taino people “who survived mixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others. Taino culture was largely wiped out”.
This is all to ask the question, how much of these atrocities can be attributed to Columbus? First, we know that Columbus had colonization like this in mind. Columbus made sure to claim the role of governor of any lands conquered by the Spanish through his travels before even going on his first voyage. According to the Smithsonian, Columbus wrote that the natives are “so full of love and without greed, and suitable for every purpose. That I assure your Highnesses that I believe there is no better land in the world, and they are always smiling." Columbus's writing of “every purpose” can suggest that they were interested in using those peoples for workers and slaves to harvest the island's natural resources. Not to mention, Columbus brought the second voyage to the New World for this exact purpose, and when there was a smaller amount of resources than he thought, the Spaniards went to massacring the people. There is no question that Columbus was aware of, and complicit in, these acts.
Should we discuss Christopher Columbus's image in the modern-day when debating whether to idolize him? This raises two larger debates: whether the posthumous association of Columbus to Italian-American discrimination outweighs his atrocious actions in terms of his legacy; and whether we should account for differing ethical standards in previous times when examining a historical figure. I believe the answer to both questions- if I was to put it in a one-word answer- is no. For the first concern, I believe that, although Christopher Columbus is a symbol of Italian-American pride, his actual actions should be more important than his image, especially when assigning a holiday and various statues to him. But we shouldn't disregard Italian-American culture if we were to remove the holiday, especially in New York City, which is why I propose a replacement holiday for a prominent Italian-American icon. A new committee should be formed in order to nominate an appropriate historical figure to ensure that Columbus's replacement is fitting to Italian-American history. The second question is obviously a great ethical debate today, but my position on this issue is, to put it simply, that some actions like mass genocide aren't justifiable by a different era, since the perpetrators are actively committing heinous acts instead of blindly following the culture at the time. The acts that Columbus took part in are inexcusable and we shouldn't be glorifying or ignoring them. This includes removing his holiday and public statues.
Overall, what do I suggest? This isn't an easy fix, so I have created five actions that would be needed to correct Columbus's immoral idolization. I recommend that the New York City government:
This solution isn’t perfect, no solution is. There will be outrage if you make this decision, but there is also outrage currently because of your inaction. At the end of the day, Christopher Columbus was an appalling man who should not be glorified in the 21st century, and your inaction is an endorsement of his character.
Sincerely,
Edward Welch Morgan