Monumental Thoughts, Part One

"When Will It Ever End?"

Last week in Columbus, Ohio, protesters called for the removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus in front of City Hall.  No, the old Italian did not fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War.  But just as we find it advisable to remove many old memorials to old rebels who tried to destroy the nation, many today dismiss the popular mythology surrounding Columbus and find monuments to him just as objectionable as a Jefferson Davis statue.

 

Yes, he showed courage sailing off to wherever the hell it was he thought he was going.  But most of us are now well aware that Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Columbo) was not a heroic explorer who "discovered" America.  That was just a lie our teachers told us.*  It's more accurate to call him an imperialist plunderer, a greedy profiteer, a purveyor of religious claptrap, a brute, a slave trader, a thief and a killer.

We like our fairy tales, and many people work to maintain them and keep them shiny and bright.  Asked to comment on the issue, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said there were "many perspectives" on the Columbus statue, which is weak-ass double talk reminiscent of Trump's "many sides."

Some conservatives are firmly opposed to removing any statue, anywhere, for any reason.  It's that tired old rhetoric about "changing our history and heritage."  They ask, "When will it ever end?" 

When will it end?  It will end when we stop feeding ourselves happy horseshit, when we stop believing in feel-good legends and distortions of history.  It'll end when we face facts and accept truth, however uncomfortable hindsight may be, and no matter how many monuments we may remove as a result.

Ultimately, it ends when we, as a species, achieve perfect knowledge and perfect understanding, and not a moment sooner.  

Until then, in our pursuit of that ever-elusive perfection, we should continually re-examine our history and challenge our preconceptions so that we may improve our comprehension of this world and our place in it.  To do otherwise, to stop and declare our awareness "good enough," is willful foolishness.
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*I recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me:  Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen, published by Simon & Schuster, 2nd edition 2007.  The Old Philosopher D.W. sent me a copy last year.  It's a most enlightening read.