Pandemic Journal - Christopher Columbus statues

The latest news is the removal of Christopher Columbus statues in Camden, NJ (my county) and across the country.

The facts are that Christopher Columbus invaded a foreign land, enslaved and massacred the local inhabitants, robbed them, and claimed THEIR land for the invading European monarch.  

This happened all over the North American continent, and there is nothing to celebrate about this genocidal invasion by European countries.  

Various experts have estimated that European diseases and genocidal violence have accounted for the eradication of about 90% of the indigenous people of this continent.  

If a force from another planet with superior weaponry and diseases to which we have no immunity invaded our planet, tortured, enslaved and murdered Homo Sapiens, then claimed this planet for their federation, that would not be an inappropriate analogy, AND we would not want memorials to their invasion on our land.  

Statues of formerly victorious conquerors have been removed from countries all over the world when their regimes have been defeated.  

What should be of more value than ethnic identity is American identity.  Our memorials should represent American values and the interests of all Americans.  Slavers, invaders, racists and traitors do not deserve places of honor in our public spaces.  We need memorials to the brave men and women who have moved us toward our national ideals.  Let's see some statues to Abolitionists, Civil Rights leaders, and women who sacrificed to bring the vote to half our nation's people.  

We have Union soldiers in our ancestry in my family, and they did not serve and sacrifice to see the traitors and those who committed crimes against humanity in the form of slavery celebrated with statuary and flags, no more than statues to the British defeated forces should be raised in places of honor.  The British were defeated by the bravery and sacrifice of the people who had suffered under the unjust rule of a colonial power.  Those heroes should be remembered as well as symbols for the common folk who fought and sacrificed and suffered to establish this new democratic system BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, ALL THE PEOPLE.

It is time to throw off the dead, villainous grip of colonial history and start celebrating our home grown heroism.

The statues can be moved to specific destinations that represent the small groups who want them, Columbus can go to parks and museums that are meaningful. 

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann