Thread by @tedcruz

1/x In honor of Columbus Day, and as a proud Italian-American, I give you Reagan’s 1986 proclamation, reproduced in full.

It’s tragic that young people aren’t taught this anymore.

October 8, 1986
By the President of the United States of America: reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speec…

2/x “Each year, we … honor Christopher Columbus, whose epic voyages of discovery shaped the development of the Western Hemisphere. This great explorer won a place in history & in the hearts of all Americans because he challenged the unknown & thereby found a New World.”

3/x “Columbus remains loved today. With his faith, vision, and courage, he could navigate beyond his world's horizons. He left a wide wake for all those to follow who would dream as he dreamed, who would defy the naysayers and dare to strive for new goals. Follow him they did…”

4/x “…and may they ever do so, those who would make the New World ever new with all the ingenuity, energy, and boldness they have.”

5/x “Americans of Italian descent are proud to say that Columbus, a son of Genoa, was the first of many Italians to come to America and a powerful reason the United States and Italy share the unique friendship they do.”

6/x “Those of Spanish descent likewise point out that Spain made Columbus's voyages possible and that he is the first link in the friendship of the United States and Spain. All Americans share in this just pride.”

7/x “We are nearing the year 1992, when the world will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage to the Americas. The Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission, a distinguished group of Americans aided by representatives from Spain and Italy…”

8/x “…held its initial working sessions in Chicago, Miami, & San Juan, cities that are planning major commemorative events in 1992. It also began a report to Congress, to be delivered in Sept 1987, that will make recommendations about our Nation's observance of the celebration.”

9/x “The passage of time—nearly half a millennium—has not dimmed the glory of the Admiral of the Ocean Seas, nor could it ever.
In tribute to Christopher Columbus, the Congress…has requested the President to proclaim the second Monday in Oct of each year as ‘Columbus Day.’”

10/x “Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 13, 1986, as Columbus Day. I invite the people of this Nation to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies in honor of this great explorer.”

11/x “I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of Christopher Columbus. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred & eighty-six…”

12/x “…and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.”

Ronald Reagan

13/x Why is it that Columbus Day has become politicized?

Did European explorers commit atrocities on the indigenous peoples in America? Tragically, yes.

Did Columbus’s explorers carry with them (unbeknownst to them) germs that tragically spread disease. Again, yes.

14/x But the atrocities were not one-sided. Native Americans also waged war against the Western explorers, slaughtering many. And they could be brutal (there is a reason “to scalp” is a verb).

Should schoolchildren be taught all of this? The good, the bad & the ugly. Of course.

15/x Those that hate Columbus Day—those that deface his statues—are not interested in teaching real history, with context & truth.

Rather, they have a political agenda: they believe the western settlement of America was BAD. That it was EVIL.

16/x These are the same people teaching that Thanksgiving is terrible, that it celebrates hegemonic oppression.

Many are Marxists who hate America. That’s the origin of the vitriol directed @ Columbus Day. It’s coming from those who believe the United States is a force for evil.

17/x I believe America has been the greatest force for good in the history of the world.

Do we have our faults? Certainly. Including especially the oppression of Native Americans & our original sin the grotesque evil of slavery.

But our IDEALS transformed the world.

18/x The Constitution is the greatest document ever written by man. The ideals of the Declaration—“ALL men [and women] are created equal,” with God-given unalienable rights—set us on a long, arching course towards Justice.

No nation has liberated more captives than America.

19/19 No nation has welcomed more immigrants than America.

No nation has defeated more tyranny than America.

No nation has spread Liberty wider than America.

No nation has produced more peace & prosperity across the globe than America.

We are a Shining City on a Hill.

fin.