Columbus day:A clash of myth and hi

(Clemi) writes:
>
> Blackfoot
> What in heaven's name does this subject have to do with Xena? If you have a problem with this you should find another outlet.
> Clemi

This post is at least as on topic as Clinton jokes and comparisons of the president to Xena.

For better or worse, the writers are trying to develop a history for Xena. Some, myself included, think it's retro-continuity. It might also be a poor execution of a previously developed arc. The merits of the effort aren't the point of this reply.

The writer's have presented a darker and more disturbing picture of Xena's background than in seasons one and two. She's not merely the heroic ex-warlord trying to atone for past wrongs. She isn't the paladin that a romantic young Gabrielle chose to follow in search of adventure. Her past is tainted with lust, greed, treachery, madness, and deliberate cruelty. It has been discussed on this forum that Xena must confront the darkness in her past before she can find true peace and freedom.

No one of us is responsible for the actions of our ancestors except to the extent that we choose not to address the injustices and inequites that remain. We are, however, part of a nation and a culture with a collective history. It is important that we learn and acknowledge the actions and events that have brought us this far. Without that, we cannot make an informed decision about where we want to go or how to get there.

Cristobal Colon did not sail the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety-two to find this land for me and you. Colon was a pround man, inspired by pride, ambition, and vainglorious curiosity to risk, not only his own life, but that of an indentured crew to pursue his goals.
His achievement of that goal brought with it, whether deliberat or incidentally, the ruin of the indigenous peoples of the two western continents. It isn't difficult to understand why some feel no reason to celebrate and resent those who do.

It's also an irony that those early settlers of the North American continent most closely related to the followers of Colon were themselves subjected to harsh treatment during an expansionist campaign prosecuted by the newly formed United States. In an effort to secure it's then southern border, members of a Spanish garrison in Florida, a Spanish colony, surrendered to Andrew Jackson. He summarily executed them.

Is Columbus day our poor way of saying "Sorry about that"?

MoonDragon