On Monday, Oct. 8, 2001, Tufts University will officially celebrate Columbus Day. The vast majority of the student body will sleep late, catch up on missed reading assignments, and blindly accept the reasons behind their day off. Despite the fact that Tufts has gained a reputation for being a liberal institution with a hearty supply of free-minded students, very few Jumbos will invest the time to ponder why this nation bows to the "Saint" that is Christopher Columbus.
However, given both the past and current conditions of public education in the United States, this does not come as a shock. From age three forward, American children are force-fed the exciting tales of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, and the heroics of the world's greatest navigator. They learn that a pious explorer tried to befriend the "savage natives" and bestow upon them the wonders of European civilization.
Their ethnocentric texts portray the wild natives as actively resisting the gestures of wholehearted European goodness. Their history books depict the "Indian" as an untamed beast and an instigator of violent actions. Such accounts are so widespread that today's children and young adults attribute the observation of Columbus Day to the unmatched valiance of one man in his discovery of a "New World."
Where in the course of students' education do they learn that the natives were anything but savages? Which text explains that the natives' society was more egalitarian and peaceful than that of any European nation? Which history book points out that the natives ran to the shores of their beaches with open arms and open hearts to welcome Columbus' brutish men?
Which illustrations depict Columbus' violent enslavement of thousands of good-hearted, honest men, women and children? Which history teachers elaborate on Columbus' obsession with gold or his arranged killings of all natives who failed to bring him his cherished nuggets of material wealth? Which instructors note that our beloved nation was established by means of rape and destruction, and that Columbus set a precedent that ravaging and plundering for the "best interest" of the country were worthy and honorable actions?
While it is disturbing that very few such texts or teachers exist, it is far from surprising. If this true version of colonization was instructed in this country's classrooms, young people may begin to question their allegiance to the blood-stained American flag and acknowledge that their country's past is not as glorious as is often depicted. Such realizations are, to say the least, discouraged in a country that praises and thrives on both uniformity and conformity.
However, today's college students should be wise enough to disregard this overwhelming emphasis on conformity and should question the validity of the traditional depiction of the New World's discovery. They should notice the contradiction in observing holidays for both Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the greatest advocators of human rights, and Christopher Columbus, one of the greatest destroyers of human rights. They should approach the administration of this elite institution and denounce the observation of "Columbus Day." However, is this a reasonable expectation when the administrators themselves, the very people who should be providing us with an education of the truth and deterring us from conforming to the "system," are declaring that we should praise Christopher Columbus for an entire day?
It should be the duty of the administration of Tufts (as well as that of all universities) to ensure that Columbus does not receive the respect that this holiday grants him. Holding classes on Monday, October 8 would be a step in the right direction, a step in freeing the campus from the ethnocentrism and racism that is inherent to such a holiday. However, because Tufts students annually receive this day off in early October, it appears highly unlikely that such a step will be taken. Therefore, as is the case year after year, Tufts administrators are once again admitting that a man who is guilty of rape, murder, and theft merits the honor of having his own national holiday.
If you also want to make this cowardly admission, drink heavily on Sunday night, sleep late into Monday afternoon, and attend class on Tuesday with the illusion that a major injustice has not been committed. But if you are not so willing to admit to the glory of Christopher Columbus, pressure your professors to hold class, encourage other students to disrespect the memory of this inept navigator, and show the administrators that you are not as blind and na??ve as they presume.
Josh Cohen is a junior majoring in history with a minor in sociology.
