Opinion
!am
Monday, October 12,1992
The Battalion
Page 9
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Is it appropriate to celebrate
Columbus Day as a holiday?
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ANTHONY C.
LOBAIDO
Columnist
The 500th An
niversary of
Columbus' New
World discovery
reflects the logical
continuation of the
celebration of his
initiative, opti
mism and courage
— traits synony
mous with the
American charac
ter.
Such celebra
tion is nothing
new. The Colum-
bus Tricentennial
-j teamtejf 1792 saw the renaming of the District
)f Columbia, Columbia University and
he Columbia River. In fact, the fervor
ciassiS eac h e d such a pitch that a movement
icgan in order to change the name of
merica to "Columbia." The 1892
^uadcentennial Celebration was ush-
red in on the heels of the Wounded
Knee victory of December 1890 and all
„ 1 Ibut sealed America's vision of "Mani-
hr] fe st Destiny."
esintheffi Fora young America dealing with
f lasts®]conquest of indigenous peoples,
umatali ] c 0 \ um \xi S was often seen as a symbol
dforhitC of political legitimacy. The 1890s saw
earn that Francis /. Bellamy write the Pledge of
Allegiance and saw-schools begin en-
dmeinjt ; 0 uraging children to celebrate Colum-
iave to p!‘ jus and learn of his achievements. Na-
jur ganw ional zeal reached its apex when Presi-
theopeiida ient Benjamin Harrison declared Octo-
be 5-0 and' her 12, 1892 a national holiday and or-
nation," ! ; lered the Treasury to issue a commem-
way andd p ra tive coin sporting a hypothetical
ie said, f likeness of Columbus,
jf points,;' America's deep historical roots of
vegetaP blebrating Columous aside, the charac-
er of the man and the purpose of his
e wayb® rayage provide the holiday with legiti-
iy more^ bacy.
edy." As for the notion of ushering in a
■ faith# tew World Holocaust, Columbus' di-
certainj* 0 iry records the Hispanola natives —
much? I" 1 rao were under siege from slave-seek-
ns of dol^ IngCarib Indians — "became so much
is ter suff pur friends that it was a marvel." Crit-
akes of ' fl ' f |cs should look to the human sacrifice of
ig victory 1 ' jhe Mayans and Aztecs for the ultimate
ough. in New World horror,
thisinst# Others see Columbus as nothing
that he® nore than a gold-seeking mercenary,
nciescf^ nhis diary, Columbus wrote: "I ougnt
eir tearnc 11 » be judged as as a captain sent to sub-
:cesses, iue a numerous and nostile people. I
nt more,' 11 jave brought these under subjection by
want to" 1 vhich Spain, heretofore poor, has be-
i wedo"|’ ;ome rich." By risking life and limb,
mttom Columbus brought untold wealth into
European coffers, yet he was a man
who died in abject poverty.
| Still the Columbus holiday debate re
ams — was the man from Genoa,
taly a slave-trading, bloodthirsty colo-
' tual pirate or the personification of capi-
e barely a bsm and entrepreneurship? Colum-
mtsallV ’usonce defended his character in a let-
ess feeling kto Queen Isabella's court: "The slan-
;abouttfl krs of worthless men have done me
none injury than all my services have
to be a sen 11 Profited me."
, S; they'K Whether sailing an open launch on
to mal# h e high seas or standing humbled be-
towin. ^ ore Royal Court in chains, we
; moretto* bow Columbus lived as the world's
, ss ive# ’remier explorer. He was a navigator
dee Owl* vho challenged the meridional degree
v. A I# *fthe Ptolemy atlas and an adventurer
and APs 1 bo inspired men to travel to glory in a
lohavetl* ®alm empirically unknown,
bought In 2092, Americans living on the
•loon and traveling to Mars will still be
w j nor a lonoring his unbreakable spirit and
naverick achievements. We can do so
oday.
school is —
ire thjfl
It is# LoBaido is a doctoral student in
r t a sevfi 1 ' educational technology
iwoi)#'*
SHAWN
RALSTON
Columnist
hat
rgies
usterS 0 * 1
firou0
didfc'
it s a
•thing
titmet 1 *;
,etic al
When Cristobal
Colon stumbled
upon the Americ
as the indigenous
population of His-
g anola, now the
ominican Repub
lic and Haiti, was
estimated at just
under 8 million
g eople. By 1496, a
panish census
registered only
28,000 native in
habitants. In a sin
gle generation
more than 99 per
cent of the popula
tion of this Caribbean island were mur
dered, worked to death, or killed by Eu
ropean diseases. The situation was not
much different for other indigenous
populations. In the words of Bartolome
de las Casas, a Spanish priest and early
traveler to the Americas, "the greatest
outrages and slaughterings of people
were perpetrated, whole villages bemg
depopulated."
It would be ridiculously unfair and
misleading to lay every one of those
deaths at the door of Columbus. How
ever, the phenomenal loss of life which
occurred serves to illustrate that
Columbus, with or without his consent,
turned out to be more the agent of a
war of conquest than of a discovery.
While not marking the exact date of
landfall for the conqueror-explorer,
Columbus Day is in essence a celebra
tion of a European conquest begun 500
years ago. Perfectly legitimate holiday,
right? Perhaps for Europe, but not for
America.
Though this land was stolen from a
conquered people, it is a historical fact
about which Americans are, under
standably, not particularly proud. Peo
ple of European, African and Caribbean
descent, as well as many others, now
share citizenship in this country. No
one race may claim to be any more
American than another. Or, if we must
distinguish a particular group, it would
surely be difficult to rule out the indige
nous populations who lived here in the
first place.
We are now all citizens of one coun
try. Columbus Day is an inappropriate
federal holiday precisely because we
are one diverse people. Columbus Day
commemorates the European conquest
of the Americas and the deaths of mil
lions of indigenous people. It celebrates
the idea that Europeans are superior to
other peoples.
However, by opposing Columbus
Day I don't propose to rewrite history.
As a matter of fact. I'd like to see us pay
more attention to history. Instead of
learning about the mythicized discov
ery of America, we should learn more
about the reality of a war of conquest.
As for Columbus himself, we should
give him his due. He was a brave and
visionary man who definitely lived a
tragic life.
Choosing not to celebrate Columbus
Day is not vilifying Columbus. Rather,
we must know history from both sides
and when we choose an American holi
day it should celebrate how far we have
come from the bloody conflicts of colo
nial days. We will never be able to re
dress historical wrongs.
However, we can quit clinging to the
myth of "discovery" and face the com
plicated truth.
We can devise a more appropriate,
more American holiday that celebrates
our diversity while still being aware of
our violent history.
Ralston is a graduate student in
English
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The Battalion - MaB Call
013 Reed McDonald /Campus mail stop 1111
Texas A&M University
Coflege Station. TX 77843
Fraternity parodies
hunting of slaves ,
On Friday night, Oct. 3, the band of
which I am a member played at a par
ty for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon frater
nity at Texas A&M. We were treated
well by the social chairman and every
one at the house was helpful and
friendly.
After setting up and being paid, we
were horrified to find that the theme of
the party was extremely racist.
Pledges dressed in black face and grass
skirts, and carrying spears, were
chased around by actives in hunting
fatigues. The decor of the party sug
gested the African jungle.
The party was a celebration of one
of the most terrible crimes against hu
manity ever witnessed. No one who
attended the party seemed to think
anything was wrong. To have racism
handled so casually was no less than
frightening. As long as this attitude is
supported by the Greek system, we
cannot hope for an end to our racial
tensions in this country.
I urge the Interfratemity Council of
Texas A&M to acknowledge and de
nounce these practices. Individuals in
side the system must stand up for
what they believe. Tolerance is equiv
alent to endorsement.
Joe Salem
Love Squad hand member
Perot commercial
showed U.S. decline
In Ross Perot's commercial, he tried
to show the people of the United States
just what is happening to our great na
tion.
More regulation of industry, in
creased safety regulations, and the
constant bickering and lawsuits that
erupt as a result of equal opportunity
measures cut like a double edged
sword into our children's future.
These measures unnecessarily bur
den pur already-hurting industries
with more worries and a higher tax
rate to pay for the government watch
dogs that have to be hired to enforce
them.
Others would have us believe that
our government should control the
health industry. They claim this
would make the government pay for
our health problems. Unfortunately
the government does not make any
money so guess who would really pay
for that "free" health care, in addition
to new government bureaucracy that
would have to be created to run it all.
Incredible as all of these options
sound, there is one more that makes
me shudder at night. I recently met
two foreign exchange students who
believe that America is not for Ameri
cans, but is instead a world institution
brought about to take care of the
world. You always wondered what
the rest of the world thinks about us,
and there it is — you are simply, in
their minds, the world's public ser
vant. I am afraid most of our career
politicians would agree.
So next time you have a chance to
see old Ross on the television don't
change the channel. Your children
might thank you someday.
John Groenewold
Class of '92
Battalion missed the
real Perot story
I have to take issue with the manner
that Gary Carroll covered Perot's first
television ad. Carroll missed the point.
Although I .applaud the work of the
Perot volunteers, I don't feel that a lo
cal Perot volunteer deserves as much
space or more in the article as the in
formation that Perot presented.
The 20 words of the seventh para
graph discussing the charts and graphs
should have been expanded. In fact,
the charts were the story.
Perol effectively showed that the
American economic engine is broken,
rusting out in some junkyard while the
Democrats and Republicans ignore the
issues. Of our $4 trillion debt, $1 tril
lion was accumulated under four years
of a Democratic president, and $3 tril
lion under 12 years of Republican pres
idents. That fact says to me that both
parties are equally inept at running
our country.
The above represent just a portion
of the information presented by Perot.
In my opinion, they are much more
newsworthy than the 35 words of a
Japanese businessman.
Peter J. Ricca
Graduate student
Gov. Clinton wrong
choice for president
Though I believe in every Ameri
can's right to run for public office, it
nonetheless defies my imagination to
think that anyone could actually con
sider voting for someone with as ques
tionable a background as yourself.
Billy boy, you would be a better
representative of this country if you
were on our Olympic marathon team.
After all, you are a very good long dis
tance runner; you ran all the way to
England to avoid the draft.
Now it has been revealed that you
ran off to Moscow in 1967. Billy boy, I
would like for you to tell me why you
were in Moscow at a time when the
Soviets were supplying the North Viet
namese with many of the weapons that
were killing U.S. soldiers. Bill, don't
you know that your actions border on
treason?
Billy boy, I understand your opposi
tion to the war, but you didn't even
have the guts to protest it here at
home; you are a coward in the truest
sense of the word. Gov. Clinton, you
don't have enough integrity to shine
my shoes, much less run my country.
Karl Krueger
Class of '93
Abortion usually
result of carelessness
In an ideal world, abortions would
only be performed in extreme cases of
fetal abnormalities or to save the men
tal or physical health of the mother.
Unfortunately, most people get
abortions for their own convenience.
without considering the child's rights
or needs. In most cases, pro-choice
means pro-carelessness. If you are old
enough to choose to have sex, you are
old enough to choose to accept respon
sibility for your choice.
The sad thing is, contraceptives,
even the most expensive (the Pill), are
cheaper than an abortion. If your con
cern is cost you have no excuse.
There are low-cost clinics and caring
people who are ready, able, and will
ing to help you make a responsible
choice to be reproductive or non-re-
productive. The question should not
be pro-choice, but pro-responsibility.
Annette Smith
Veterinary student
Accompanied by 3 signatures
Different looks no
excuse for abuse
At the A&M vs. Texas Tech game, a
very unfortunate event occurred.
While I was cheering, someone
came behind me and poured nacho
cheese down the inner side of my
green Doc Marten boots.
I realize that being "different"
would draw strange looks or even
laughs, but when people physically
cause damage to another's property,
that is unacceptable. If it was your
goal to hurt me and make me feel un
comfortable, it did. I hurt that they
were so disrespectful to me, my prop
erty, and my rights as a "person."
I am here for an education, not to be
condemned for being "myself." I feel
lied to. At my conference in June, I
was told repeatedly how Aggies were
so diverse and accepting no matter
how different. Videotape after video
tape, diversity was engraved into my
brain and I was excited and anxious to
be a part of it. I can't tell you how this
event has affected.
You don't have to accept me for
who I am or what I represent, but
there's no excuse for what has been
done. I have not done anything bad to
anyone. I walk through campus with a
smile on my face and even say
"howdy." To some, this is just nacho
cheese poured on my boots, but to me,
this is threatening my rights of expres
sion and to be "included"as an Aggie...
how sad.
Tiffany McEachem
Class of '96
Reader plans to vote
strictly pro-life
I would like to sincerely thank the
Battalion for helping me out with my
voting decisions on Nov. 3. Of course,
I am talking about the article entitled
"Abortion rights groups list candi
dates" in the Oct. 6 paper. This was a
very informative article that I have cut
out and will take with me to the voting
booth. This makes my voting easy be
cause all I have to do is look at the can
didates the abortion people want elect
ed and then proceed to vote against
them. I sincerely hope many other
people will do the same.
Each year in this country over 1.6
million babies are put to death. Abor
tion is the only issue worth looking at
when choosing the candidates for pub
lic office because without human life,
nothing else really matters.
Damian J. Krahl
Class of '93
£c&rJ(>nY •