With due respect to Carrie Johnson, a pro-active AU student who has expanded dialogue for the better at AU, I have to take issue with some of the assertions made in her recent letter to the editor. I, for one, do not congratulate the Undergraduate Senate for passing yet another piece of worthless paper. Known only as a "resolution" to the pretentious among them, such "acts" only demonstrate that the amount of actual work that gets done in the Undergraduate Senate is the same as when I was there three years ago: nothing. If the Undergraduate Senate would like to really engage the student body, taking cues from the U.S. Senate's penchant for dealing with anything but what actually affects their constituents probably is not the best route.
More importantly, I'm compelled to take issue with the principle behind Ms. Johnson and her group's position regarding Columbus Day. No one denies the atrocities committed, or the diseases unintentionally brought to the New World. But it would be to the credit of the "advocates of Indigenous peoples" if they did not pretend that the Americas were some kind of Utopian oasis before Columbus and the "evil Europeans" came along. If one wants to have a dialogue about the "devastating ramifications" of colonization, is it not possible to have one on the cruel cultural rites of the Aztecs? Or the treatment of women in certain "indigenous cultures?" Or the battles between Native American tribes for slaves, land, and goods?
I do not believe the arrival of Christopher Columbus was without negative effects, but the "trendy" position of many "advocates of Indigenous peoples" seems to treat the arrival of Europeans as not just a net loss, but a "devastating" set back into some kind of barbaric age, the likes of which we still experience every time we dare celebrate Columbus Day. You have a right to think that, but know it is the society that emerged from the arrival of Columbus that thinks your right to discredit it is natural and above its ability to persecute you legally for it. Know that it is the society that emerged from Columbus' arrival that created the advances in science, technology and travel that give you the means to discredit it. And please, remember that as you discredit Columbus Day and its "devastating ramifications," know that the day was meant to celebrate more than just the man and just the voyage. It is the celebration of what the spirit of discovery, exploration and innovation would lead to: the most advanced society in the history of mankind.
William J. Haun Senior, School of Public Affairs and former president of the AU College Republicans
