DRPogue, I agree with you as well. I never thought of Columbus as a monster, although I do have problems with the whole 15th-16th Century "Age of Discovery" attitude of white supremacy. However, I do agree with Robert Darnton in THE GREAT CAT MASSACRE that history has to be judged in the proper perspective: attitudes of 1492 are not the attitudes of today, and an 18th century act like the cat massacre is completely un-PC today.
Well put, DR Elmore. I think, before some of my favorite Dear Readers have to rush off and take a cold shower, it should be pointed out that understanding people's actions in
a historical context helps to explain them,
but not necessarily to excuse them.
One thing that I did not like about
Roots was that everybody in the slave-holding families was without exception a rotter. Even poor Sandy Duncan, who started out with some humanity in her, became cold and evil. I do not believe that the slave-holders were totally devoid of humanity where their slaves were concerned. It's well enough for us to judge a White who grew up on a plantation and insist that he should have freed all his slaves and given away his family's fortune out of contempt for the system. But put us in the same situation, and how many would have the courage?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled frivolity.
