A few days ago – precisely on October 12 – America was commemorating the “Columbus Day”, quite peculiar but now rather controversial national holiday. In 1937 President Roosevelt had declared this day to be an official state holiday, although it was already celebrated since 1792, exactly three centuries after the day when Christopher Columbus apparently set foot in the New World. I know why some people in both Americas do not like this day. Yet I firmly believe that this historic event is worth the worldwide celebration; in these notes I’ll try to prove it to you.
I can explain why I liked this American holiday right from the start, since way back when I was a postgrad in Harvard. I came to Cambridge, MA rather late in September. The classes have barely started and I haven’t yet got accommodated to the brand new living environment. And all of a sudden – wham! – an extra day-off already! More so, it turned out to be a prolonged week-end. That’s why our laboratory, headed by our beloved boss - Prof. Paul Bartlett himself, with its full complement traveled to Canon Mountains, NH to ski. What a break! Less than a month ago I was still in a slushy, rainy, sunless Moscow and – here you are! – majestic mountain peaks, sparkling snow, invitingly smooth slopes and beautiful ski trails. Almost like in that haunting Sinatra’s ballad “Moonlight in Vermont” - only in the neighboring state. How it was possible for me NOT to like this unusual and totally unexpected holiday? Mind it: it was long BEFORE anybody ever heard of such dim-witted things as “political correctness”, “relativism”, “egalitarism”, “cultural sensitivity” and other nonsense…
Many, many years later, when all those far-fetched “theories” were already in their full force in the US, I was teaching the class of “World Civilizations” at California’s HOPE International University. And there, all of a sudden, I’ve had again a peculiar experience related to this Holiday. This time it was rather awkward and unpleasant one. The times have changed and in 1999 “Columbus Day” was an official day-off only for banks and government offices, and not for schools, as it used to be. I walked into the class and habitually, like I did every year, kindheartedly and sincerely congratulated my students on the occasion. But in response, to my amazement, there were no cheers or any positive excitement whatsoever. More so, two of my students (girls, one African-American and the other Korean-American) in rather harsh way, bordering with an intentional un-politeness, retorted that I was “completely wrong and there’s absolutely nothing to celebrate.” They explained to me, that “for their people and other ethnic minorities” it is certainly not a holiday in any way, but “a day of great tragedy and sorrows”. Because “the white men, without being invited, came to this hemisphere - which was at that time a regular heaven on earth – only to enslave and kill a lot of natives while destroying their beautiful and rich culture”. Something like that.
As a pretty experienced teacher I am very hard to be muddled, but this time in front of the full class – I confess – I was rather speechless for a few seconds. This openly hostile declaration was totally unanticipated. I was not prepared to discuss this issue, but noblesse oblige! I patiently reminded my audience that the discovery of the New World was actually the great leap forward for the “natives”, since their primitive indigenous civilization was by far inferior to the European (“Christian”) one. The locals didn’t yet use the ferrous tools, they have no understanding of real science or education, while Columbus – imagine that! – before his sailing off made a genuine well-grounded scientific presentation before the Scientific Council of the University of Salamanca! The European ships with their navigation instruments, the steel armaments the Spaniards used and many other things were the absolute revelation to the natives.
I explained that there were no Maya’s or Aztec’s “civilization” as some people now mistakenly claims. Those were the isolated, limited in time, specific local “cultures”. The most important features of true, genuine civilization are:
a) gathering (acquiring) previously known information,
b) producing (generating) new information and
c) transferring it all to the civilization that follows.
That was the established pattern of each and every classic civilization. The Greeks created the democracy, sports, philosophy, theatre and many other things that we use until today! The Romans gave us the government macrostructure, roads, post, archives – bah, “The Roman Code” and many other useful inventions. And what did Mayas or Aztecs really create that they passed on to us? Nothing.
Here is albeit wide-spread, but nevertheless false notion about Maya and Aztecs: “they have created their particular language, intricate calendar and mysterious pyramids”. OK, agreed. But tell me: what language do they speak now in Latin America? What calendar they use today? Who was building those mammoth pyramids after Aztecs? The answer is obvious: they were not “forgotten civilizations”, but fruitless, useless temporary cultures, that produced nothing constructive or positive for other people or generations. I don’t believe that anybody would want to use, for instance, that popular Aztec “practice” of opening the chests of their ALIVE prisoners with the sharpened flint knifes (no metal was known yet) so the free flowing warm fresh blood would “feed” Ketzalkoatl - the God of the Sun . This horrendous custom was also used as an act of frightening for the specially invited chiefs of the neighboring tribes who were conflicting with Aztecs. The historian Gomarra witnesses that before taking over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan the Spaniards had offered to the Aztecs to surrender, since Aztecs were completely running out of any food. But Aztecs had in turn proposed to the Spaniards to attack. Their intensions were quite clear: the Spaniards would attack and at least some of them might be taken prisoners and then Aztecs would EAT THEM! Nice, very nice.
There is a popular opinion, actively cultivated by the American liberals: the DWEMs - and them only - should be blamed for all the problems and miseries of the local minorities. If it wouldn’t be for the Dead White European Males then the native population would have continued to live in “that regular paradise” happily eating and killing each other for the Ketzalkoatl’s delight. Unfortunately, there are some disoriented youth who are easily deceived by those cunning liberal tricksters. I also heard the indignant voices claiming that “Columbus and those Europeans who came after him killed every native in sight.” (Those who were converted to Christianity apparently were also counted as dead.) Then how come that the modern South and Central American countries have the predominant ethnic American-Indian population, who are besides the most fervent Catholics in the world? Something doesn’t agree upon here…
One must admit that those European crusaders of 15th century were not exactly “politically correct” and “culturally sensitive” to the natives of the newly acquired lands. Somehow the fine idea of “human rights” unquestionably was not predominant among the conquistadors. But, all things considered, weighting all good versus all bad, we must acknowledge that for the New World its discovery and consequent fast development was a gigantic civilizational leap forward. Before the Epoch of Great Discoveries our world was only half; and now it’s whole. That’s why I believe that the “Columbus Day” should be a great universal holiday for all the civilized people.
P.S. The horrible thought: what if the New World would have never been discovered? Where then those people on the “Mayflower” would have headed for? Consequently, there would have never been the great world power called the United States? How awful! But on the other hand, a lot of people would live today a lot more quietly and happily – without worrying who would win on November 4…
