La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for October 12, 2015

Sadly, I just saw a commenter on another site who said what Columbus did was legitimate. His reasoning? The indigenous people also migrated here at some time so hadn’t been here forever and weren’t always peaceful. Therefore, Columbus was justified in enslaving and slaughtering them. I suppose that would be justification enough for anyone to invade anyone else.

Didn’t need the best to beat what was there. Oh dear me suds, I suppose the next thing we should gnash and wail about will be on Thanksgiving and those evil Pilgrims. PS unless you are of 100% tribal blood your ancestors took part in that evil evil conquest. Where is my hair shirt and flail, must repent for my ancestors conquests.

Right on. As an adult, I started wondering why we celebrate this holiday. Surely there are more notable Italians that can be celebrated. I tell people that Columbus discovered someone’s backyard. Meh.

Lalo, are Spaniards Latinos? If so, it was Latinos that conquered the Americas and killed millions of native though disease and their form of enslavement.

There are millions of Mexican of pure Spanish decent. Are they the oppressors or the oppressed?

I need to know so I can be politically correct.

Perhaps the politically correct citizens of the future will will be incensed at the millions of illegal immigrants who forced their way into the formerly great United States – analogous, of course, to what we’re saying Columbus did years ago.

Unfortunately, Europe did send its best…

Because some of my family insist he is a Latino as do the Mexican family he married in to. They consider anyone who is not Latino, by their definition, as white and the bad guy.

On the other had many of the educated Mexico use the term Gachupin as an insulting term for Spaniards since Mexico suffered for centuries under the oppressive rule of the Spaniards.

Part of my life was spent in Spain. I saw the term Hispaniola on old maps and in history books but never in modern print or in conversations. Within the country most people identify themselves by the one of 17 autonomous regions. In other words if you are a Basque you say I am Basque or I am from the Basque country. If you are a Catalan you say I am a Catalan.

When a Spaniards is outside of Spain, they are more apt to identify them self a Spaniard unless they are Catalans or Basque

I have never heard any Spaniard identifying himself a Hispanic. I do see others using the term Hispanic to refer to a Spaniard.