After reading chapter one of Howard Zinns’ A People’s History of the United States, I am left questioning many aspects of western civilization and the actions of our ancestors that brought our society to where it is today. Zinn exposed the awful truths of colonialism that are often left out of our history textbooks and early discussions of how we got here. However, when you take the time to actually unpack all of the genocide and malicious behavior of the colonizers, it is a lot to take in. While reading this passage, I felt sick to my stomach that my life has been build off of the mass murder of the indigenous people who rightfully called this place home before Columbus ever stepped foot on a boat. Everything I have in my life and everything my ancestors did for me was build off the subjugation of others and the dehumanization of the local people. Was this the only way to advance civilization to its achievements of today? Was there a more humane way to achieve this level of innovation and globalization? I understand that oftentimes you have to destroy to create. But what does that mean for those who get destroyed? Is that simply a part of civilization that gets lost in time, similar to Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest? Humans evolve just like any other species, but we are all equal when we are born. However, where we are born can provide massive advantages to your status. Zinn touches on this with the importance of natural resources played with the success of the colonizers. They had iron, which gave them weapons and guns. They also had horses, which allowed them to cover vast distances much more efficiently. They were not elevated beings over the indigenous people in the Americas, they were simply born with privilege.
Privilege continues to be a controversial topic that causes massive societal issues across the world today. In the US, we have seen the negative effects of privilege over the last several months erupt into the black lives matter movement. The basic understanding that you are born with privilege based on the color of your skin is something that many Americans still don’t understand, which causes those who are not privileged to be discriminated against and racially profiled for their lack of privilege. Many people still do not understand the privilege they are born with and did absolutely nothing to deserve. Columbus had the same mindset when he first met the natives. After one of his first encounters with the Arawaks, he wrote “They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want”. Columbus truly believed that he was a superior being to these people despite being composed of the same DNA and being no different at birth. This inhumane ideology has been passed down from generation to generation and still remains in the minds of many Americans today. After reading this passage, it was evident that many of the same ideologies from 500 years ago can still be found today in our country. We have made a lot of progress, but there is still more to be made.
I like how you referenced where you would be today if it was not for Christopher Columbus. All the horrors of the genocide committed by Columbus makes me wonder if I would be living in a better society today. The Native American culture is represented as being very peaceful and caring, so it is troubling to think of where the nation could be. I think you did a great job connecting this topic to the present day. There are still so many injustices going on today, and I believe a more widespread knowledge of America’s past could help bring a greater perspective to the world today.
I agree with you saying “where we are born can provide massive advantages to your status”, and we can see this nowadays all around the world, a person’s background can determine if their life with be a heaven or hell. I really liked how you built a bridge connecting the past to the present and explained how privilege plays a huge role in intensifying global issues. I think that unless people start realizing their privileges and refusing to benefit from them to provide equal opportunities for others, the social issues we see nowadays will not be solved.