Columbus Day (Indigenous People's Day?) has rolled around once again, giving us another chance to take the measure of a man who is simultaneously admired and reviled.
A long time ago (i.e., back when I was a kid), Columbus was idolized as the romantic and intrepid Italian explorer who sailed the perilous and unknown Atlantic for Spain and "discovered" America in 1492. Then the pendulum swung, as pendulums do. Columbus has been recast as a cruel despot who enslaved native peoples and paved the way for the brutality of the conquistadors.
Perhaps, at some future pointing time, we will develop a more balanced and nuanced assessment of Columbus, one that allows us to recognize both his bravery as an explorer and his exploitation of the indigenous people he encountered in his voyages.
Columbus did not discover America, of course, because there were people living here long before he arrived. But he did undertake several perilous trans-Atlantic voyages that required courage, leadership and navigational skills. Similarly, Columbus did enslave native people he met in his travels, obviously a despicable act. But his actions must also be evaluated by 15th-century standards, which were far less enlightened than our own.
Christopher Columbus. Great explorer. Badly flawed guy. And another excuse for a three-day weekend.
