Columbus Day, 2022

A Columbus statue in Pittsburgh awaits its fate (AP/WSJ)

In the debate over whether to bury or praise Christopher Columbus people say dumb things, such as

“This goes way beyond public speech,” Mr. Sague said. “From the time that Columbus met the Taino, my ancestors, his mind was thinking, how can I exploit these people mercilessly.”

Columbus thought he could find India by sailing West, and he persuaded the powerful Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his voyage. He was probably composing his excuse to the monarch who started the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 and not thinking about how he could "exploit" the "Indians" he encountered.

By the way, although "exploit" has Latin roots, the modern meaning of "use selfishly" did not come into being until 1838 and was popularized by Karl Marx later that century.

Poor Christopher, selectively condemned for all the bad that followed his voyages and none of the good, and attributed with modes of thinking that didn't exist until 400 years after his time.