Columbus Day

I think Columbus Day is still worth celebrating. "In fourteen hundred and ninety-two/ Columbus sailed the ocean blue/ [and on the twelfth of October/ landed on Hispaniola]."

People rightly point out that other Europeans had seen and visited the continent(s) of America. But none of those led to the settlement to which most of us owe our presence here. So unless we wish to leave this hemisphere, we must consider ourselves in some way the beneficiaries of Columbus.

People also point out the undeniable bad results for the native populations. But, whatever his personal cruelty toward natives in subsequent years, that was not Columbus' purpose in his first voyage. Furthermore, it seems that on balance, over time the Spaniards were less hostile toward and destructive of the native populations than the English. Above all, the evils, intended and unintended, are counterbalanced by the surpassing  good of the bringing of Christianity to the native peoples.

To me, then, whatever the evils brought by Europeans to these shores — not all of which can be justifiably laid to the personal blame of Columbus — on balance no Christian and no one of European descent who continues to live here can honestly wish Columbus' "discovery" of America hadn't happened.

My celebration will probably take the form of having meatballs for lunch, spaghetti for dinner, and Grand Marnier (for the reason explained in an earlier post) either as an ingredient in my cocktail or as an after-dinner drink.

BTW, in an earlier post about this holiday, I think I said that in Japan it is Culture Day — based on what I understood my brother to say. But it's actually Sports (or Health and Sports) Day, with its date based on the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

October 12, 2011

519 years ago today, Christopher Columbus set foot on land in the Western Hemisphere for the first time. They chanted a "Te Deum" in thanksgiving. Way to go, Chris! In celebration, I'll have spaghetti for supper, and follow it with a bit of Grand Marnier. (If you wonder what Grand Marnier has to do with Christopher Columbus, it's my little joke: I've heard more than one person call it Grand Mariner, which is, of course what Columbus was.)

13 years ago today, Matthew Shepard died. I blogged a year ago about attending a performance of "The Laramie Project" and "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later." It is disheartening that there is still anti-gay violence in our country. But perhaps that is because bigotry can never be entirely eliminated and that the worst bigots feel that violence is justified. But that said, I think there has been progress. Matt's death made me and many others aware that such violence was still going on, and that therefore it needed to be stopped. There has been legislation and many people's attitudes have changed for the better. I hope there will be continued improvement. Hopefully we can get to a point where no LGBT people are in danger of violence or murder because of their sexuality.

October 12, 2009: Columbus Day, Culture Day, Thanksgiving Day

 "In fourteen hundred and ninety-two / Columbus sailed the ocean blue," as we learned in grammar school. Although there were others who came to the Americas from Europe before him, it was his voyage that truly set off the age of exploration and colonization of the New World. He was a very devout Catholic, and at his first landfall he had the traditional hymn of thanksgiving, the "Te Deum," sung. All of us whose homes are here as a result of the European settlement of the Americas or of the subsequent events which depended on it ought to honor the intrepid "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" who set the events in motion. October 12 was the actual date of Columbus' arrival at Hispaniola. The United States now celebrates Columbus Day on the second Monday of October. This year, happily, the holiday falls on the actual date.

My brother tells me that in Japan, this is Culture Day. It was the Meiji Emperor's birthday. He was the one who took power back from the shoguns.

And in Canada, I understand, it is Thanksgiving Day.

So celebrate as many of these as you can.