Thought for the day - October 7, 2000

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 11:59 AM

Well, I guess that's what I get for taking one quote out of a book and not including the context, BUT that would take a, well, a book, so, I guess Amos, maybe you can take my word for it that it was not written by a bleeding heart who went overboard; it was written in relation to the entire book being about rethinking how children are taught about Columbus' "discovery" and Indigenous people in general, AND how everyone has to go beyond the hate and other bad feelings of the past and work for a positive way of life for as many as possible.

I guess you could call me a bleeding heart, BUT I prefer to think of it as being compassionate, empathic and, since I am working on healing my physical heart, I prefer not to have that image of my own.:-)

If you are interested, the book is only $8 and, IMO, well worth it. It is written in a way to make people think.

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: Amos
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 11:29 AM

Well, I'm all for telling both sides of the story, but I would hate to see this wave of politically enlightened thinking succeed in denigrating the word "discover". To cite that it always includes the point of view of the discoverer is belabouring the obvious. The bleeding heart who went overboard in this TFTD quote has collapsed successful exploration and pathetically inept human relations and made a single enemy of the two.

And it should probably be taken into account that within the context of the culture, doing what Columbus did was pretty ballsy. And it was genuine discovery from the European perspective, since the Vikings weren't talking.

To use human compassion to reduce our drive to fond the new, to improve situations, to use ingenuity to solve problems relating to survival, would be a serious disservice. It cannot be gainsaid that we have been cruel and selfcentered as a culture and as a species, but wringing our hands and condemning discovery is not a viable remedy.

A

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 11:17 AM

I don't mean to get this so offtrack kat, but that article is revisionist history at its best. Genoa wouldn't TAKE the sculpture.....No one here could give a damn whether it went to Genoa or was sunk in the Scioto River!!! I like that "maverick" bit about former mayyor Buck Rinehart too. What an asshole.

One night he and a friend were out doing some after hours bar hopping and were picked up by the police for driving erratically. The guy was plastered! However when the cop asked him to do a quick sobriety check, Buck replied, "I'm not drunk, I'm just inspecting the city." That became a popular phrase around here to say the least..........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 11:04 AM

Best of, huh? Sheesh! Parts of New London, CT were so ethnic that the statues of Columbus were entitled in the Italian, as "Columbo."

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 10:58 AM

Columbus has some ethnicity.......but nothing compared to other surrounding cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Piitsburgh, or Cincy. Its really grown into a monstrius college town/cowtown kind of place....real "whitebread".....not too exciting from an ethnic point of view. The name was simply to "Honor" Columbus, as is the "Blue Jacket" thing.

The "Sister City" here is Genoa, Italy of course and a few years back the Genoans had the good sense to reject a "swap" of a statue of ol Chris for "our" official city sculpture called "Brushstrokes in Flight." The article says that we couldn't determine whether we loved it or hated it. Bullshit. I have never heard anyone do anything but laugh at this Incredible Piece of Shit except for the City Fathers who couldn't give it away!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 09:57 AM

If it is not that ethnic, how did it come to be called Columbus, Spaw? Did it used to be? It does seem quite a contrast to pair the two.

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 09:46 AM

Ya know..............I just got to thinking based on this and Leej's thread, that here I am in Columbus, Ohio, named for Chris, replete with statuary and a full size replica of the Santa Maria on the river downtown.....But this is about the LEAST ethnic town you can imagine. But then we name the new NHL team the "Bluejackets" in honor of a Native American....................It really makes it weirder than I thought when I consider using both names together. Know what I mean?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 09:24 AM

I like the word you created, too, BlueJay! It does sound like a miasmic cloud of some sort! Nice to see you "surfacing", btw!

I won't be watching, but i will be tuning into NPR to hear reports and i hope it goes well.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: BlueJay
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 01:42 AM

Sorry for the mispelling of "Columbus". Entirely unintentional, but I kind of like the word I created: looks like some sort of cloud. BJ

Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: BlueJay
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 01:35 AM

Gee, kat, I have the feeling you'll be watching the events at Denver's Cloumbus Day Parade/Protest tomorrow, as will I. What a bizarre f***ing story. Let's hope both sides mean what they say and there's no violence. Thanks, BlueJay

Subject: Thought for the day - October 7, 2000
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Oct 00 - 12:13 AM

"Discovery"
represents the point of view
of the
supposed
discoverers.

It's the invaders
masking their theft.

And when the word
gets repeated in
textbooks,
those textbooks become
the propoganda
of the
winners.

from Rethinking Columbus- The Next 500 Years
"Resources for teaching about the impact of the arrival of Columbus in the Americas."

Edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Petersen.

Published by Rethinking Schools, Milwaukee, WI at www.rethinkingschools.org

A governance of taking
Our breath, our food, our home, ourselves
Useful, free labour, souls for "saving."
Can't get past the colour, the enchantment
Of drum, chant, connection with the Earth
Banished, sundered, destroyed, removed.
Weshemoneto, the Great Good Spirit knows
Circles upon circles bring it all back around
What is taken, is now given,
What belongs now returns,
What was injured, now is whole,
May Peace Prevail.

kat