from TheFreeThoughtProject Website to the fact that Columbus was a mass murdering tyrant but only after centuries of celebrating him as a 'hero'...
After beating it into children for over a century that Columbus 'discovered' America, the world is finally waking up to the reality that not only did Columbus not discover America, but he was a rapist murdering tyrant that set off a massive genocide.
Sadly, however, there are
still schools across the country today that will celebrate this
tyrant and make a powerful point - history is written by the winner
- even if the winner murders and pillages their way into it.
As Napoleon once famously said,
Christopher Columbus is celebrated because he,
...but in addition to the
fact that he didn't actually discover anything, there
is a very dark side of Columbus' life that is still not taught in
school history books - despite the fact that schools are ceasing
celebration of the national holiday.
Catholic Priest Bartolomé de las Casas transcribed Columbus' journals, and testified to the violence that was chronicled in them, noting that over 3 million people died of a result of the war and slavery championed by Christopher Columbus.
Pointing out the fact that history is written by the winners, de las Casas finished his writing by asking this question:
Indeed, it has taken decades to get people to even question the official history of Columbus.
However, it seems that
this information awareness is happening more and more quickly thanks
to an ever expanding access to information.
Over the next 400 years,
those with access to information about peace and freedom began to
rise up against their oppressors. Instead of monarchies and
dictatorships, republics and democracies were born.
Only establishment-supporting nationalistic books were promoted which led to entire societies believing their patriotic stories about how their countries,
controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."
George Orwell
Tyrants were painted as
saviors; mass murderers hailed as great discoverers. The world was
slipping back into a dark age of control and manipulation.
The Internet, like the printing press of the 15th century, has revolutionized the dissemination of information.
With the internet came the instant and immediate access to any information, distance was no longer a barrier to communication, and the alternative media was born.
Instead of millions of
people getting info, it was now billions. Access to this
ever-expanding, limitless amount of information can now all be
accessed by a device that fits in your pocket.
As CNN reports, just this year, at least a dozen US cities - including San Francisco and Cincinnati - decided to stop observing Columbus Day and will instead celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday.
This rejection of false history marks the beginning of the end of a fairy tale shoved down the throats of school children for far too long. The gesture of the day is not enough, however, as long as we continue to ignore the current oppression of Native Americans.
The indigenous people of the North American continent are still being oppressed and killed at a higher rate than anyone else. It is time we start to push this conversation to the forefront of the public debate.
There is still a long road ahead, but a lesser ignorance is the tool by which we reach the end of that road...
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