Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum Page of 8 Next >>
Topic: Goodbye, Columbus! Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132137
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Chicago Mayor Removes Statue

The man whose name wasn’t even Christopher Columbus is finally being seen for what he really was—and what he really was was not very nice.

There is a select group of historical figures who have come down to us almost entirely as myth, and “Columbus” was one of them. Virtually nothing for which he is credited he actually did, and the mythmaking has proven so strong that even the man who actually did much of what Columbus is lauded for, was accused of stealing credit from his boss, mostly because people didn’t understand what a “navigator” was.

Back to Top profile | search
 
Wilson Mui
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4521
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I'm embarrassed to say I did not know any of this
history. It was definitely not taught when I went to
school. (My daughter knew it when I asked her though.)
They should take down the statue in NYC also.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5619
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 7:33pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

But...if it wasn't for Columbus the world would still be flat!

At least, I think that's what I was taught....
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17659
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 8:10pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

When I was in school, we were taught that Columbus proved the world
was round and discovered America. Even as a wee lad, I didn’t
understand how a person could be said to have discovered a place
already populated by others, but was chastised for daring to ask,
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Christopher Frost
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 24 October 2016
Location: Canada
Posts: 484
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 8:40pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Does this mean that Columbus, Ohio is going to be next on the hitlist?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Wilson Mui
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4521
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Yes, it's got to go.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 10:13pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Does this mean that Columbus, Ohio is going to be next on the hitlist?

----

Do you mean Flavortown?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
Posted: 24 July 2020 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

As a former longtime resident, I'm in favor of Blank, Ohio. Why replace one lie with another? 

Edited by Joe Zhang on 24 July 2020 at 10:46pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Carlos Velasco
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
Posted: 25 July 2020 at 3:18am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Here in Spain, most of the media (all conservative media and all moderate left media) is spitting out articles about how wrong it is to remove Columbus statues.

The guy was Italian, but Castile (what later became Spain) organized all his trips. So here he is considered as part of our culture and usually regarded with pride.

This is just another example of how human culture looks at the past too much except for a little detail called learning lessons (world pandemics, stock market crashes...).


Edited by Carlos Velasco on 25 July 2020 at 3:22am
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132137
Posted: 25 July 2020 at 5:41am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

When I was in school, we were taught that Columbus proved the world was round and discovered America.

••

My fourth grade teacher, Miss McCue, taught us the "official line", including the "proved the World was round" bit. But she added her own twist, a little contempt for the people of the Past who did not take into account how ships sailing past the horizon seemed to sink into the ocean (and rise up on the return voyage). That could only happen if the World was round!

At no point did anyone mention the fact that the spherical nature of the Earth had been long understood, by cultures all around the World, and what Columbus was claiming was that the planet was SMALLER than had been calculated. This is what would make sailing West to the Far East possible.

He was wrong, of course, and in fact had cooked the books to come up with his figures. If North and South America hadn't been there, he and his crew would have been in big trouble!

Back to Top profile | search
 
Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5619
Posted: 25 July 2020 at 6:32am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

The lies about history in the case of Columbus are of the same ilk as the lies about the history of the Confederacy. People say these statues help us remember history, and yet anyone who studies actual history can figure out the statues are present as propaganda to promote an alternate history.
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132137
Posted: 25 July 2020 at 6:42am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

History, someone said, is lies that have been agreed upon.

It seems we are passing thru a time in which people are finally coming to realize this--sometimes violently.

The important thing to remember now is that two wrongs don't make a right.

Back to Top profile | search
 

Page of 8 Next >>
  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login