Forum Post: The Controversy Surrounding Columbus Day

The recent Left's fetishization and romanticization of "indigenous" peoples borders on the perverse. It almost amounts to nativism of the worst kind. Nothing is more condescending, either, than to view Native American populations as existing in a somehow more "harmonious," naive, and spiritual relationship to nature. Other supposed sympathizers with the plight of indigenous peoples talk about Native Americans as if they were one homogeneous grouping -- when in reality they were a number of distinct tribal societies with different practices that were often hostile to one another.

I am almost of the view that there is no such thing as an "indigenous" person. Practically everyone on the planet is the descendant of people who historically displaced other people who inhabited a region prior.

Much of the outrage so commonly expressed regarding Columbus Day is absurdly overblown. Those who defend it are hardly any better, however. Both sides of the debate are wretched.

Here is a more balanced perspective:

http://rosswolfe.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/the-controversy-surrounding-columbus-day/