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by Federico Fellini
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"Christopher Columbus," by
Howard Zinn wrote: |
In the standard accounts of Columbus
what is emphasized again and again is his religious feeling, his
desire to convert the natives to Christianity, his reverence for the
Bible. Yes, he was concerned about God. But more about Gold. Just one
additional letter. His was a limited alphabet. Yes, all over the
island of Hispaniola, where he, his brothers, his men, spent most of
their time, he erected crosses. But also, all over the island, they
built gallows—340 of them by the year 1500. Crosses and gallows—that
deadly historic juxtaposition.
In his quest for gold, Columbus, seeing bits of gold among the
Indians, concluded that there were huge amounts of it. He ordered the
natives to find a certain amount of gold within a certain period of
time. And if they did not
meet their quota, their arms were hacked off. The others were
to learn from this and deliver the gold. |
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