You might wonder where is this place named in the title. You might ask if it’s from a work of fiction. Where is it set? What’s time period and who are the players?
The unfortunate truth is it’s not a work of fiction. It’s just the good ol’ United States, and all of us, for better or worse, are the players. “Confederate” is an ode to the failed/rogue Confederate States of America that waged an unsuccessful war to destroy the Union and maintain slavery. The Confederate States of America might have lost the war in 1865, but it seems as if between then and now they have been successful in getting the U.S. to establish its very racist goals through the prison, military and educational industrial complexes. “Columbus” is giving credit to the true father of the capitalist enterprise of the Americas, Christopher Columbus, aka Cristobol Colon.
Columbus’ so-called exploration and discovery of the “New World” for Europeans became the impetus for the colonization and exploitation of this “virgin” wilderness and the basis for the entire system of economics in the Western World that is rooted in the enslavement of African people. The European aristocracy at the turn of the 14th century not only saw an opportunity to exploit but also saw an answer to their environmental problems of sanitation, overpopulation and the lack of mineral and other resources in Europe. It would be remiss to leave out Columbus, the true colonizer/capitalist in chief of the Americas. The subtitle, “A Nation Under our Feet,” pays homage to the actual land that we stand on that truly belongs to the indigenous people of this land. It is simply a reminder that we are responsible for what happens to us. Thus, we have the ultimate power to alter the course of any situation.
The reality as we face the 525th anniversary of the Columbian discovery of the Americas is that the Western Hemisphere is still a cash cow for the European colonizers, as it was at the turn of the 16th century. Many of the so-called independent states in the Americas, in one way or another, still have economic, social and political ties to their former colonial masters. Haiti even paid reparations in the billions in today’s currency to France for all France lost in the war for Haitian independence. We still refer to the “French Caribbean,” the “British Caribbean” and the “Spanish Speaking” nations of the Americas. These names are not just titles of reference or historical nostalgia. They give credence to the most heinous, detrimental time in world history. The years between 1492 and 1900 represent the most genocidal period in world history. There was so much theft, enslavement and killing done to bring the Western Hemisphere under the control of European powers that Genghis Khan himself would have been jealous of the precision and command with which the Europeans carried out such plunder. This time of year, in particular for the victims of the greatest double genocide in world history, the destruction and genocide of the high civilization of the indigenous people and the enslavement and genocide of the African people, should be mourned just as we mourn for the victims of 9/11 and the victims of the Jewish Holocaust.
It is utter insanity that America on a national scale does not recognize these tragedies with ceremonies of remembrance, flags lowered to half-staff or with programs of reconciliation for healing the wounds that are still open from the colossal tragedies. Most of the places that we frequent right here in the New York City are named for the very people that many of us owe our survival to. There are many reading this article who are from Canarsie, The Rockaways and Manhattan. These names are either of indigenous groups or are indigenous words. How can we have the names of the people without giving them credit or remembering the tragedy that caused their demise? Seventy percent of the foods we eat in the world can be traced to the domestication of crops by the indigenous of the Americas. The tomatoes, corn and mangoes that many of us could not live without can be traced to these shores.
Mike Ely on the eve of the 500th anniversary, 25 years ago, wrote in the Revolutionary Worker, “The U.S. imperialists love Columbus. They have named cities, counties, towns, rivers, colleges, parks, streets and even their capitol after him. Yet, to the people, the facts are plain: Columbus was a thief, an invader, an organizer of the rape of Indian women, a slave trader, a reactionary religious fanatic, and the personal director of a campaign for mass murder of defenseless peoples. The bourgeoisie hides these truths as they insist on celebrating him.”
Ely continued, “Any reading of his diaries reveals that he was filled, not with a lofty courage or adventurous curiosity, but only the most extreme craving to plunder and enslave unarmed people.” These facts are evidence that point to the insanity that we see in mass shootings, senseless police killings of unarmed Black men, rape culture on college campuses, a tone of racial hatred across the board, the rogue criminal business practices of Wall Street and the insensitivity of the president of these United States toward the colony of Puerto Rico.
Let us, the victims of these past and current atrocities take this time of year to not only mourn but also become active in this nation under our feet to create a better future than the one that the descendants of the mass murderer have in store for us. It is only through activity and agitation that a true democracy can rise. Let us not forget the real history as we strive toward a better tomorrow. So please take some time this “Columbus Day” to support people who truly need your help, love and loyalty, but most of all resist the wave of tyranny that still extends to today. Alluta continua—The struggle continues.