Día de la Raza

Today is Columbus Day, in the English-speaking Western Hemisphere. Among the Spanish-speaking, including those in these United States, it is "Día de la Raza".

Even tho' this is a holiday tied to a SPECIFIC event in history, the date -- 12 October A.D. 1492 -- that Christopher and his crew of three ships of Spaniards discovered the New World, it has fallen to the "Monday-holiday" syndrome that caters to American love of leisure and laziness. So, for example, the Alamo Heights ISD had a school holiday on Monday the Ninth in observance of the historic date. Well, I think that's why it was a holiday; the teachers still had workshops. And actually I was glad to have the day off to rest up and catch up from my participation in the Walk to Emmaus #1327.

Columbus Day, or Día de la Raza, is an important day in history. Probably next to Christ's birth, death and resurrection, which split western history into Before Christ (B.C.) and "In the Year of Our Lord" (A.D. Anno Domini in Latin), Columbus' discovery in A.D. 1492 had the most impact on human history.

Alas! in this current age of the "politically correct" agenda, emphasis had been on the negatives of the A.D. 1492 connection of the New World with the Old. True, terrible things came out of the mariner's exploit. He himself mistreated the natives, and of course in ensuing generations a huge percentage of the indigenous died from the ravages of European diseases against which they had no immunity. They died as well from mistreatment at the hands of the Europeans. And because they thus could not bear the slavery imposed on them, the Europeans took to hauling black Africans across the Atlantic to be their slaves.

Nevertheless Cristóbal Colón (his name's Spanish version, by which he went much of his later adult life) desired noble goals. BTW, one of those goals was NOT to prove that the world was round; most educated folk of the time already KNEW the Earth was a globe. The most-publicized goal was to set up a trade route for Spain and Europe WEST across the Atlantic Ocean to the Spice Islands and the other riches of the Orient. But another major goal of Colón was to open a road across the sea for the spreading of the Gospel, the Good News of Christ, who had after all died for ALL PEOPLE, regardless of residence, race or language. Consider that the Italian navigator's personal name means "Christ-bearer"!

The spiritual goal was one which caught the attention of Queen Isabel, and one which we Western-Hemisphere Christians today should remember with gratitude.