Over the past several years, radical protesters and left-leaning imbeciles have heavily tarnished the legacy of Christopher Columbus. Today, San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich got in the action when he took a shot at the 15th-century explorer from Italy.
In a press conference, Popovich praised President Biden’s decision to call today “Indigenous People’s Day” in an attempt to refocus history on celebrating the people that owned the land before we did (like that will accomplish anything). After applauding that decision, Popovich made a bold statement on what he thinks it means when cities still honor Columbus.
“He initiated a New World genocide…He took slaves. He mutilated. He murdered. Maybe there is something I am missing, and I am ignorant. But it makes me feel like they’re living in a phone booth. And they are educating our kids? It’s no knock on Italian Americans. That’s a silly argument. It’s like saying, ‘We should be proud of Hitler because we are German.’ It makes no sense.”
Popovich is right about one thing in this statement: he is ignorant of why we celebrate Columbus.
Columbus Day is not a celebration of all the bad things that happened when he crossed over into the New World. We celebrate this day because it was the catalyst by which American culture began.
Had Columbus not taken the perilous journey into an unknown and unmapped portion of the world, the events that led to the founding of the United States would never have happened.
Yes, indigenous people died, yes, there was sickness, yes, there was brokenness in the process of Columbus looking to expand in the West. But let us not forget that this is the guaranteed byproduct of land conquest – which every indigenous tribe that inhabited North America before Columbus arrived would have to engage in to expand their own territories.
And comparing him to Hitler is utterly ridiculous. Hitler is on the shortlist of the evilest and wickedest human beings to ever walk the Earth. He organized the attempted termination of the Jewish race and threatened that Germany would rule over all. He was a murderer bent on destruction and global takeover, Columbus was an explorer in search of riches and new territory for Europe.
Popovich has had a glittering NBA career and is one of the most successful basketball skippers of all time. Maybe he should stick to coaching the Spurs instead of trying to dole out history lessons to the public.