Wave of protest against the Italian from Genoa reignites debate about the role of the conqueror
The idea that supposedly heroic events in history can be seen from a different perspective, that is, from the side of the oppressed, is not new.
There are divergent opinions particularly regarding the figure of Christopher Columbus, especially in Spanish-speaking regions on both sides of the Atlantic and also in the United States.
His name is associated with slavery and brutality.
The wave of indignation, which has been going on for the last decade, has gained strength in recent days in the United States.
Since May 25, when protests began over the death of former black security guard George Floyd, asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis, vandals have toppled several statues of characters linked to colonial history or discrimination.
In Saint Paul, Minnesota, a statue of Columbus was torn down. Days later, a monument erected in 1927 was vandalized in Richmond, Virginia, and was subsequently thrown into a lake. In Boston, a statue of the explorer had been decapitated.
This Saturday, July 04th, marked by the independence of the United States, anti-racism protesters, demolished yet another statue linked to the colonial history.
The image of Christopher Columbus, in the city of Baltimore, on the east coast of the country, was torn down.
The night before, Donald Trump gave a tense speech against the protesters, whom he classified as an “angry mob” who wants to “erase the history of the United States”.
“We will fight together for the American dream and we will defend, protect and preserve the American way of life that began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered America,” declared Trump, after attacking protesters who denounce racial discrimination in the country.
“We are defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists and the agitators and looters. We will never allow an angry mob to destroy our statues, erase our history and indoctrinate our children,” he stated.
Born in Genoa in 1451, the Italian navigator was the first European to arrive in the lands of the American continent, called the New World, in 1492.
Curiosities
- The name Columbus inspired the name of a country, Colombia, and two regions of North America: British Columbia, in Canada, and the District of Columbia, in the United States.
- Christopher Columbus was the first man to prove that the world was really round.
- Eight years after Columbus' discovery, Pedro Álvares Cabral saw the lands belonging to Brazil.
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