Thank You, Mr. Columbus
"Thank You Mr. Columbus" from the book
"The Last Puerto Rican Indian"
A Collection of Dangerous Poetry
by Bobby Gonzalez
"Thank you, Mr. Columbus.
Thank you, all his colleagues
and all of your descendants
who carry on his mission.
Thank you for blessing us with:
Termination
Relocation
Subjugation
Assimilation
Acculturation
and
Detribalization.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Regulation
Retaliation
Reorganization
Reclamation
Taxation
and
Alienation.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Domination
Decimation
Resignation
Confiscation
Desecration
And
Elimination.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Castration
Decapitation
Penetration
Sterilization
Exploitation
and
Dehumanization.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Depopulation
Humiliation
Extermination
Separation
Indoctrination
Discrimination
Isolation
and
Violation.
For these bounteous benedictions
we thank thee.
May you and yours be one day
equally blessed.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus. "
This is a very simpole poem with a powerful mesage. On Monday, October 9th I sent it a copy of the poem to my mailing list and surprisingly got several reactions, two of which were negative. I thought that the email addresses on my list were made up of some positive and progressive thinking people and organizations, but lo and behold I received two comments from people who were glad that Christopher Columbus and his followers raped and killed many natives they found on this continent. Below are two comments:
jimiguez@... wrote -----------------
I am so sick of Anti-Columbus sentiment.
It is one of the stupidest things to come along in the last 15 years: judging medieval men by 21st Century standards. I am glad he raped, pillaged and decimated. If it weren't for him, my ass wouldn't be here today. Lets concentrate on the future and the evils being perpetrated today on indigenous people and the poor.
and A. Loyola wrote--------------
What the heck are you sending me this garbage for? Mr Gonzales ought to change his name to some other name since if it was not for Mr.Columbus he would not be called Mr. Gonzales, and he ought to not write in English or Spanish, since if it wasn't for Mr. Columbus he would not even speak English or Spanish, and he ought not to be proud of being a Puerto Rican, since without Mr.Columbus there would be no Puerto Rico, heck, without Mr. Columbus, millons of people like Mr. Gonzales would not even exist, since thanks to Mr. Colmbus the Europeans mixed with the Indians and out came the new race of Latin America... so don't send me this racist grabage Mr Gonzales wrote, wishing us the descendanst of Europeans in America extermination, and wishing himself and the descendnars of the mix of Europeans with Indians non existence andextermimation before they ever came to being.
"The Last Puerto Rican Indian"
A Collection of Dangerous Poetry
by Bobby Gonzalez
"Thank you, Mr. Columbus.
Thank you, all his colleagues
and all of your descendants
who carry on his mission.
Thank you for blessing us with:
Termination
Relocation
Subjugation
Assimilation
Acculturation
and
Detribalization.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Regulation
Retaliation
Reorganization
Reclamation
Taxation
and
Alienation.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Domination
Decimation
Resignation
Confiscation
Desecration
And
Elimination.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Castration
Decapitation
Penetration
Sterilization
Exploitation
and
Dehumanization.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus for blessing us with:
Depopulation
Humiliation
Extermination
Separation
Indoctrination
Discrimination
Isolation
and
Violation.
For these bounteous benedictions
we thank thee.
May you and yours be one day
equally blessed.
Thank you, Mr. Columbus. "
This is a very simpole poem with a powerful mesage. On Monday, October 9th I sent it a copy of the poem to my mailing list and surprisingly got several reactions, two of which were negative. I thought that the email addresses on my list were made up of some positive and progressive thinking people and organizations, but lo and behold I received two comments from people who were glad that Christopher Columbus and his followers raped and killed many natives they found on this continent. Below are two comments:
jimiguez@... wrote -----------------
I am so sick of Anti-Columbus sentiment.
It is one of the stupidest things to come along in the last 15 years: judging medieval men by 21st Century standards. I am glad he raped, pillaged and decimated. If it weren't for him, my ass wouldn't be here today. Lets concentrate on the future and the evils being perpetrated today on indigenous people and the poor.
and A. Loyola wrote--------------
What the heck are you sending me this garbage for? Mr Gonzales ought to change his name to some other name since if it was not for Mr.Columbus he would not be called Mr. Gonzales, and he ought to not write in English or Spanish, since if it wasn't for Mr. Columbus he would not even speak English or Spanish, and he ought not to be proud of being a Puerto Rican, since without Mr.Columbus there would be no Puerto Rico, heck, without Mr. Columbus, millons of people like Mr. Gonzales would not even exist, since thanks to Mr. Colmbus the Europeans mixed with the Indians and out came the new race of Latin America... so don't send me this racist grabage Mr Gonzales wrote, wishing us the descendanst of Europeans in America extermination, and wishing himself and the descendnars of the mix of Europeans with Indians non existence andextermimation before they ever came to being.
Comments