And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: "CATHERINE DAVIDS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:24:37 EDT
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Columbus Statue
Ish - I received this e-mail today. Please forward it on. Contact
information for the White House:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
or send letters to:
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.
Catherine
***********************************
Dear Ms. Davids:
Thank you for contacting Hijos de Borinquen at www.puertorico2000.com. We
at Hijos de Borinquen share your outrage at the commemoration of the
genocide of the indigenous people of the Americas. We do not endorse the
erection of this monument, but unfortunately, are not involved in the
design or development of this project. We agree that there are worthier
figures in World History to honor that have made greater contributions to
human peace and our spiritual development as a people on this globe.
In noting your outrage, we would like to inform you that you may be
outraged to hear of some of the unjust military practices that are being
inflicted upon the people of Puerto Rico. To the protest of the people of
Puerto Rico, the US Marines is currently using live ammunition to stage
mock battles in Vieques, a tiny town in Puerto Rico. One stray missile
used in this practice recently went off course, actually striking a home
and killing a Puerto Rican civilian. Vieques is environmentally devastated
and its people have cancer rates twice the average in Puerto Rico. While
we can not change the past nor revert the errors and atrocities committed
by individuals like Columbus, we do have control over the present. Please
help us save our people in the name of human rights. Please write or email
President Bill Clinton and tell him to cease using live ammunition in
staging mock military battles in Vieques. Attached you will find a copy of
a recent newspaper article outlining the Vieques incident. Please feel
free to forward this message along to your friends.
The People of Puerto Rico thank you.
Best regards,
Webmaster,
Hijos de Borinquen
www.puertorico2000.com
Errant Bombs Kill 1 in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two U.S. Marine jets dropped bombs on a lookout
post at a remote training ground in Puerto Rico on Monday, killing one
civilian and injuring four other men. The two F-18 jets based on the USS
John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier were on a night training run over Vieques,
an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, at about 7:30 p.m., said Roberto
Nelson, spokesman for Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The Navy base operates
the training ground in the U.S. territory. Their bombs missed a target area
and landed near the post where four civilian contractors and one military
observer were working. The blasts killed one contractor. The injured were
flown to the Roosevelt Roads Navy base hospital, 20 miles away. They were in
stable condition Monday night. ``They were just in the area, doing their
job, when this unfortunate accident occurred,'' Nelson said. ``We empathize
and sympathize with the family of the deceased, and we will do a full
investigation to see what happened here.'' The Navy would not identify the
victims until family members had been notified. Nelson said it was not
unusual for airplanes to bomb at night at the site. The U.S. Navy controls
75 percent of Vieques for military maneuvers and weapons storage. The island
is 21 miles long and four miles wide, located eight miles east of Puerto
Rico. Residents oppose the use of live munitions there, saying the frequent
explosions disturb fishing grounds and thwart the island's efforts to attract
tourism. ``What happened is what for years they have been saying was going
to happen,'' said Robert Rabin, who manages the Conde de Mirasol local
history museum. ``Vieques lives under the continual danger that this type of
situation will happen if the Navy makes a mistake in its bombardment from
ships and airplanes.'' But Nelson defended the training ground's importance,
noting that most of the Navy and Marine aircraft involved in the Kosovo
conflict trained there. ``All of those pilots who are in Kosovo have dropped
live ordnance in Vieques,'' Nelson said. ``That is the importance of Vieques
in this (Kosovo) operation.''
At 02:52 PM 6/11/1999 EDT, you wrote:
>
>Greetings.....
>
>Why would the government of Puerto Rico be so willing to erect a
>statue to the man (Christopher Columbus) who genocided and mass
>murdered their Taino and Arawack ancestors? Instead of putting up
>something to honor the people a statue is going up to a man who had
>no honor whatsoever.
>
>The 300-foot tall statue of Christopher Columbus needs SPACE. 500
>years ago Columbus and his sailors and priests cleared the land of
>the Taino and Arawack through mass murder. Now the government
>of Puerto Rico, acting on behalf of Columbus, are going to clear land
>for this disgusting statue that does nothing but pay tribute to
>genocide.
>
>How many homes and neighborhoods have to be destroyed in the
>name of Columbus (again) in order for this statue to be erected?
>Does the Puerto Rican government believe that waving money at
>people will just make the hostilities go away? This statue and the
>remembering of all the genocide and enslavement that Columbus
>originally brought to the islands is not going to bring peace among
>people in Puerto Rico. It is not anything that enriches peoples
>hearts, souls, and minds. It is dehumanizing and disgusting.
>
>********************************************
>I still am wondering - who is this Russian sculptor, Zurab
>Tsereteli, and why did he decide to honor Columbus? Hasn't this
>guy heard of Stalin, Hitler, and the genocide these monstors created?
>
>Catherine Davids
>Flint, Michigan
>
>
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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