When we were kids, Columbus Day was a big deal. In New York City, the Department of Public Works used to paint the white line on Fifth Avenue purple for the annual parade that was always held on the real date of the holiday, October 12.
In light of so much, I, as a man of seventy-four years plus now, know that as a boy of twelve I didn't know about the Rape of Paradise which ensued after Columbus' arrival; perhaps blood red might have been a better choice of colors.
All I ever cared about was the day off, just like kids across the country. We all recited the rhyme because that's how we knew what (little) we did know about Columbus and since there wasn't a snappy couplet about genocide, we didn't hear anything about that aspect of discovering the New World (I also don't remember the Arawak natives part, but some of the little gray cells have had some rough days).
Looking at the world as it is and how all settlement and civilization have developed, I'm not sure it's just Old Chris we should be putting in the defendant's docket and charging. I'm thinking a look in the mirror as well as a glance out a window might increase our catch significantly.
And to compound the cacophony of facts clashing with opinions is the realization that not only did Columbus not discover the New World, but he wasn't the first. We've spent hundreds of years observing a historical event that is neither historic nor an actual event. Sort of like being the second skinniest Kardashian at a family reunion.
And now, as it's the dot on the "i" in today's holiday, we have another excuse (and sale opportunity) to buy bedding, or is that just me in the last couple of days? I'm not sure there's any more of a connection between one and the other than there was to India from Bermuda back in the day. .
-bill kenny
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