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A Brief History of The Caribbean:

4 min readFeb 16, 2021

The Taino People Part 3 — Columbus

Hi sorry I took so long. I was kind of battling COVID maybe. That’s a story for another time. Disclaimer this was partially written last week.

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This is where I have problems with history. Europeans like to sugar coat what happened. When I was younger, like when I was young I thought that Columbus did a good thing by “Discovering The Western World”. We learnt about his so-called great exploits throughout the Caribbean.

Before I go into Columbus I want you guys to know; there is a big debate in The Bahamas right now about the Columbus statue. Many citizens want it removed because of his atrocities, however, the government is adamant about keeping that European jerk around for history sake. One prominent historian and social media personality Archbishop Gigas is one of the critics of the Columbus statue’s presence. The image below shows a thread of his views on the statue.

To say it’s a matter of passivity is an unfair indictment on the Bahamian people, I feel.

After all, it was not until recent years that many of us (myself included) even learned of the atrocities that took place after his initial San Sal landing & subsequent New World voyages.

As someone who was, until recent years, regarded solely as a brave and courageous man, it is, for me, understandable that the Bahamian people themselves purchased the statue to have it erected.

After all, he is hailed & someone who changed world history (which he did).

Though, now that we look at history in its entirety as opposed to not only what was repeated over decades and even centuries, we realise that he should not be celebrated.

And perhaps if the Bahamians of the 1800s were fully aware like we are they might’ve shared our sentiment.
*hailed as

A Brief History of The Caribbean:

The Taino People Part 3 — Columbus

Written by D'Kiehl Cole-Cash

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