From Christopher Columbus’ Diary, “These Natives are so nice, we’d be crazy not

to enslave them!” At a young age, we’re misguided from the truth of who

Christopher Columbus really is and his interactions with the Native

Americans. Senators, there has already been some movement on removing the

holiday status on Columbus Day, but little has been done.

The following reasons I ask for your votes when it comes to negation/affirmation

of Senator ________’s legislation for the following two reasons: one, Columbus’

reign of enslavement, and, two, Columbus’ murder spree.

My first reason, Senators, Columbus’ reign of enslavement. According to the New

York Times and Peter Nabokov, a professor in the world arts and cultures and

American Indians Studies at the University of California., from his first landing on

Native American soil to his death,, Christopher Columbus was capable of

enslaving more than 15 million people. “What happened to those slaves?” you

ask.

According to an Ward Churchill of MIT, who is an expert in factors of Ethnic

Studies, Native Americans as young as 9 years old were either raped, sold, or even

killed and most of those Native Americans were tortured. And Edward T. Stone,
the author of “Columbus and Genocide” those who were enslaved were forced to

learn a new culture, but if they had decided to stand up for themselves and choose

not to, then they would be tortured and killed.

That moves on to my second reason, Senators, Columbus’ murder spree. As I’ve

said already, Columbus killed people who he had enslaved and those who were

perfectly innocent. According to Howard Zinn who is an American historian and

the Chair of the History and Social Sciences department at Spelman College goes

to a the testimony of a young priest who participated in the conquest of Cuba who

stated and I quote “Our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle, and destroy”,

end quote. Howard Zinn also writes and I quote “under Columbus Governorship

through murder, mutilation, being worked to death or suicide more than half

the 250,000 Indians,” end quote.

Christopher Columbus, a man who stole the lives of innocent Native Americans

who were trying to live their life. Those Columbus killed weren’t ever

remembered, yet they were killed by Christopher Columbus, and Columbus

himself was rewarded. Columbus was a killer and a murderer, yet he still has

his own holiday! Columbus enslaved Native Americans and he sold, killed, raped,

and even tortured them.

It’s for the reasons that I give you today, Senators, to vote in negation/affirmation

of Senator _______’s legislation for these two reasons: one, Columbus’ reign of

enslavement, and, two, Columbus’ murder spree. But let me ask you this Senators,

shouldn’t we give those Native Americans the justice they deserve?