discovery of America

only by a strange twist of white ethnocentrism can one be considered to "discover" a continent inhabited by nearly 75 million people and with a settlement that once was as big as London at the time (Cahokia, near what is now St. Louis). "'Discovery' terminology demeans and trivializes Third World and indigenous peoples" (Sanford Berman, Prejudices and Antipathies). Writer Oscar Wilde said, "It is a vulgar error to suppose that America was ever discovered. It was merely detected." (Imagine that first-time travelers to France, thrilled with the snails, the Eiffel Tower, accordions, and haute couture, returned home full of their "discovery," raised money, soldiers, and settlers, and returned to plant their flag on the Ile de la Cité.) The 40-year period following Columbus's arrival in the western hemisphere saw one of the greatest losses of human life in history. The "discoverers" had little interest in or respect for nature and human beings, but a high interest in and respect for gold and wealth—attitudes still seen today. Write, speak, and teach about U.S. origins from multiple perspectives. Instead of discovery, use terms like arrival, colonization. See also Columbus Day, savage.