On Oct. 12, the DE editorial criticized the celebration of Columbus Day as a slap in the face to Native Americans. Matthew Hale, a law student (of all things), then objected to the DE s anti-white stance, bemoaning characterizing Europeans as the bad guys in American history, and glorified the might-makes-right moral of the superiority of European guns against Indian bows and arrows. Andy Volpert’s letter argued that the New World was no Garden of Eden when the Europeans arrived and applauded the introduction of human rights by the Spanish to native peoples practicing slavery, torture, human sacrifice and even cannibalism.

Mr. Hale’s outlook is more appropriate for a Neo-Nazi militia Furher than a student of law, a subject which seeks to embody fundamental principles of justice and right. Mr. Volpert correctly states that acts of inhumanity existed here before the European conquest. But to characterize the Spanish conquistadors as furthering the concept of human rights is indeed a slap in the face to anyone who wishes to recall the history of this place accurately. The standard pattern was conquest, enslavement, conversion and genocide. Mr. Hale’s and Mr. Volpert’s letters are offensive to any Native American and to those of us who believe that might does not make right and that we have an obligation to remember the tragedies of the past in our struggle to realize a humane and just future.

Nor can I agree with the DE editorial. Let us use Columbus Day as an opportunity to remember the past correctly not to feel guilt for acts which our ancestors did, but to generate compassion and understanding for those who must live in the shadow of those crimes. Thus, fortified with a sense of humanity, a recognition of the tragic aspect of history, and a renewed sense of justice, perhaps we can all work together to make the world a place worth living in. That is the new world that needs discovering and deserves to be celebrated.

Advertisement