I appreciate efforts by the editorial staff of the Maine Sunday Telegram to not allow baseless racist accusations to get published. But apparently, it is OK to throw your own race under the bus using baseless analogies and altering historical facts. Is that why columnist Bill Nemitz was allowed to have his column printed (“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus scarred the world anew,” July 21) concerning how the voyage of the Santa Maria contributed to the “slaughter” of Native Americans?

Besides the usual Nazi analogy, Nemitz goes on to state: “… the voyage was all about conquest, forced religious conversion, exploitation and above all, money.” Can Nemitz show documented proof that this was in the business plan Columbus presented to the Spanish monarchy to get funding for his voyage?

Another outright historical falsehood was his statement: “North American history took a terrible turn after Columbus.” We are all familiar with the ritual human sacrifices certain tribes practiced when the Spaniards arrived in the Americas. But now, recent archaeological findings show the sheer butchery that went on between numerous tribes in the Americas. Do a web search on the Crow Creek Massacre. If you have the stomach for it, read the forensic report on how horribly these people died at the hands of their fellow Native Americans.

What happened to any Native American in the past at the hands of western settlers or opposing tribes is inexcusable. But I don’t appreciate the laying of a guilt trip on all present members of my race by a columnist trying to score woke brownie points.

Ted Sirois
Saco

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