The savage in the mirror

published in The Santa Monica Daily Press

Dear Editor,

While the title of Thomas Bowden’s column is spot-on accurate (“West is indebted to Chris Columbus,” October 8, 2007), reading between the lines I’d have to say his reference to “frightened savages” was a bit of shadow projection.

What the ‘West’ is most indebted to Columbus for is his assistance in instigating a program of slave-powered genocide, which led to the enrichment of all the European colonial powers, including by extension the United States. To persist in ignorance of the nature of how the ‘West’ achieved dominance over other population groups, or worse, to justify these acts, is quite a fete.

I’m no analyst, but what I venture to suggest is that the ‘frightened savage’ Mr. Bowden claims to see in America’s past, is none other than a reflection of Mr. Bowden himself, in America’s present. In convincing himself (and others) of the greatness of Columbus and the superiority of the West in general, he hides from himself (and others) all the racist acts of murder and thievery on which the West’s economic superiority was (and is) built. If one can accomplish this, it is easy to extend the underlying rationale of theft through genocide into the present.

These truths may not rest easy on one’s conscience. Though relegated to the unconscious, they will yet attempt to make their presence known, in an effort to heal the psyche.

Charles Fredricks