O’Reilly pens bizarre Columbus Day piece about indigenous people
Bill O’Reilly is upset about the push to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day.
O’Reilly, in an opinion piece for The Hill, lamented the idea that Christopher Columbus was considered “oppressive” and sided with Italian-Americans who see the holiday as a celebration of their own culture, since Columbus was Italian.
“One thing is for sure, the wave of political correctness that has taken root in America is way beyond ‘oppressive,’ but that’s another column for another time,” O’Reilly wrote.
He then went on to weirdly characterize indigenous people as savage, suggesting that they were not worth celebrating, writing, “Yes, some native tribes were enlightened societies but many were not. After inter-indigenous battles, torture and enslavement were often on the menu for the losers.”
He did admit that Columbus had enslaved the indigenous people on the Caribbean islands but claimed that slavery was a “minor part of” Columbus’ story as a whole.
— The hell with Columbus Day. For real. —
“Along the way, Columbus ran into some Indian tribes, most notably the Caribes. They did not like Chris and his malodorous European crews. Strife broke out and some bad stuff went down on both sides,” he wrote.
There’s that “both sides” argument again.
“On the island of Hispaniola, present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Columbus did establish slavery to support various laborious enterprises. Not good. Slave labor was common at the time the world over, but that’s no excuse,” he continued.
He then added, “However, that was a minor part of the ‘Columbus business,’ as Hollywood would have put it if they were wooing him for a three-picture deal. Mostly, Columbus was a brilliant navigator who opened up the world for travel. No small achievement.”
“We now live in a time where severely misguided people with little frame of reference are dictating how history should be told and what Americans have a right to see and hear. And if you disagree with them, then you, yourself, are ‘oppressive.’ And they’ll cover up your statue,” O’Reilly continued before finally concluding, “The legacy of America is in big trouble.”
