Dear Editor: The notorious Christopher Columbus must not be celebrated

“[…] Mr Rushton Paray opined that if we removed the ships from our coat of arms and removed the monuments honouring Christopher Columbus and other notorious colonial-era characters, we run the risk of being afflicted with ‘historical amnesia’.

“This is a very fallacious argument… Not only Christians but many other persons are quite familiar with Judas Iscariot, the notorious betrayer of Jesus Christ. There are no monuments or other tangible tributes to Judas…”

The following Letter to the Editor in response to cases by the Roman Catholic Archbishop Dr Jason Gordon and UNC MP Rushton Paray for retaining Christopher Columbus’ ships on Trinidad and Tobago’s coat of arms was submitted to Wired868 by Louis W Williams of St Augustine:

Roman Catholic Archbishop Dr Jason Gordon sought to address this matter of Columbus’ three ships on Trinidad and Tobago’s coat of arms by recommending a compromise solution of placing the ships on the waves at the bottom of the coat of arms and installing the steelpan where the three ships are currently located.

I heard some persons who are opposed to that suggestion say that Archbishop Gordon did not want to offend his major wealthy financiers/ donors who support the retention of the ships on our coat of arms.

I do not agree with those persons—most of whom consider me to be too naive. However, although I am not a Roman Catholic, in my view, Archbishop Gordon has demonstrated his sterling integrity over the years.

Nevertheless, I do not agree with him on this issue. Similar to Archbishop Gordon, Mr Rushton Paray, UNC MP, supports the retention of the ships on our coat of arms.

Mr Paray opined that if we removed the ships from our coat of arms and removed the monuments honouring Christopher Columbus and other notorious colonial-era characters, we run the risk of being afflicted with “historical amnesia”.

This is a very fallacious argument.

In this regard, the Roman Catholic church has monuments and other such tangible tributes to its saints. However, even some of the most ardent members of its laity are not very familiar with the achievements of those honoured saints.

However, not only Christians but many other persons are quite familiar with Judas Iscariot, the notorious betrayer of Jesus Christ.

There are no monuments or other tangible tributes to Judas. The notoriety of Judas was properly documented in the history books and also kept alive via the sermons of the clergy and other such communications/ discussions.

It would be interesting to know, given the views of Archbishop Gordon and Mr Paray on this matter, when will the Catholic Church be erecting monuments or displaying other tangible tributes to Judas?!

Similarly, when will Mr Paray begin his advocacy for similar monuments and other tributes to notorious characters such as Dole Chadee and Abdul Malik?!

The notorious Christopher Columbus must not be celebrated, Archbishop Gordon and Mr Paray.

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