Oh the depths of October, which spans history, controversy, social issues and taking a stand as leaves change colors across the land. While trick-or-treating lingers in the air, everyone will have to wait another week.
Most of us reading this column today can let our memories drift back to the early years of elementary school at this time of year. You can almost hear yourself reciting, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
I can also remember tracing pictures of Columbus’ silhouette on black construction paper. Christopher was a big hero, especially if you were of Italian descent.
Since Columbus Day was a federal holiday, there were parades and coloring books to celebrate. I remember my brother wearing a Christopher Columbus costume for Halloween one year, but you will probably not see many costumes this year because Columbus has lost his day in some states to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
How did our hero lose favor? History, research and access to the internet all played a part, but Columbus was also caught by his own acts, or so it is said. It is a fact that the king and queen of Spain sent Columbus out to reap the resources of India.
He fell into the discovery of a new world because he lost his way. What he first thought to be his destination, ended up being the island chain known as the West Indies, and America was in the curtains to get its colonization.
We know from written records that on Columbus’ very first day, he ordered his crew to seize six natives to be his slaves. According to History.com, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino Indians to Spain over the years to be sold or to die.
Columbus is said to have been a hard and violent taskmaster. The ship from Spain did more than just enslave and harm the island’s inhabitants. The ship brought diseases that the natives had no immunity to, and thousands on the island died.
This was one of the first examples of biological warfare. Eventually, word of his treachery reached Spain and Columbus was called back, probably because he had some explaining to do.
While Columbus did return to the Americas, he was no longer governor. He later went home saddened because his dreams of being a master were lost.
As word of the real history became known, many began protesting honoring Columbus with a federal holiday. The protests began at Columbus Day parades.
Efforts in many school systems stopped much of the fanfare as well. There were no more “sailing in 1492” songs. It was as if Columbus’ ship had sunk.
A holiday controversy began in 1991 when dozens of cities and seven states began celebrating the day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This holiday was designed to celebrate and honor the history and contributions of Native Americans.
While many people and states still celebrate Columbus Day, many choose not to honor him by citing his treatment of the natives. This situation is a sort of counterculture battle of recent decades.
I honor both holidays. I honor Columbus because I keep hearing that darn song from my childhood, and I honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day because they were treated so badly.
October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month which seeks to bring sharp focus to this urgent issue and promotes advocacy for victims. In the last few decades, dirty secrets that were hidden for so long by families have begun to come out of the closet.
Over the years, I have walked from Pacheco Park across the overpass on Seventh Street and have ended up in front of the city hall while carrying handmade posters and shouting, “There’s no excuse for domestic abuse, stop the violence!”
When we arrived at city hall, the mayor at that time would present a proclamation describing the issue. Often victims would bravely stand up and tell their truth, and you could see how those speeches affected the group that had gathered.
In recent years, walks down Seventh Street to the community center have continued. Every October, people everywhere are encouraged to wear purple in solidarity with the victims.
According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, about 20,000 phone calls are placed to hotlines every day. Unfortunately, most victims live in fear of reaching out for help because fear is a great deterrent.
According to Clare Cannon, former assistant professor of Social and Environmental Justice, “One in four women are raped in their lifetime and one in every nine men is raped in their lifetime.”
Interested in more statistics? One in four women and one in seven men experience severe physical abuse by their partner in their lifetime. One in every six women and one in every 19 men are stalked in their lifetime.
The last statistic to me is the most chilling. A woman is murdered by a male intimate partner with a gun every sixteen hours in the United States.
Domestic abuse continues to be an epidemic in our country. If you notice behavior that may be a symptom of such abuse, it is valuable to reach out.
Get educated on the symptoms such as increased withdrawal from normal activities, wearing clothes all the time that cover arms, legs and places where you might see bruises.
Changes in their normal personalities may occur as well.
I have known many women over the years who have suffered from abuse, and many were just waiting for someone to reach out. Many people respond, “Well if the person is being abused, why don’t they just leave?”
There may be any number of reasons, but just a few are: they have children, they feel they have nowhere to go, they may not work or have any of their own money and feel there is no way out, and maybe worse of all, fear that they will be abused more if they try to leave and are caught.
Sadly, one of the most chilling reasons is that many women, even with restraining orders, are murdered by their abuser after they leave.
This is why it is so important to donate to shelters for these women. It is also important to support training and counseling for the victims and promote a greater awareness of the problem by society at large.
There also needs to be more extensive training for police officers on how to handle these often volatile situations as well as have more compassion towards the victim and greater penalties for the perpetrator.
Too often, especially in cases of domestic abuse, situations can turn on a dime. A victim may sneak a call to the police, the husband opens the door and brushes the situation off. The police leave and the victim is beaten again.
I personally know of a situation where a wife called the police, and when her husband opened the door he knew the police. He said to them, “Well you know how our old hags can get,” and they all laughed. They never asked to see the victim.
This is a complex problem that needs to be tackled from many directions. It costs money and productivity.
Victims often have to call into work to say they are ill and unable to be there. Victims who are injured in such abuse often repeatedly go to the emergency room.
Victims of continued abuse who feel that they have no way out may commit suicide, or as seen sometimes in the headlines, the victim may kill their abuser.
My last point is that children who are raised in abusive homes, no matter how terrified they may have been at the time, often repeat the abuse as adults. This perpetuates the cycle.
Let’s all do what we can to stop it!
Sadly, another wonderful citizen of Los Banos died recently. I met Gloria Mendonca the first time while doing a section for the Enterprise on volunteers who made a significant difference. Boy, when I talked with her, I fell in love with this caring, tireless and dynamic woman.
I used to later tease her that she must have several clones of herself in her closet. I covered an awful lot of events back then and it seemed that she was everywhere.
Gloria did not want to be acknowledged for her service, but to just quietly get the job done. One of her favorite projects was Circle of Love. To me, wherever she was she made it a circle of love! Gloria will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.
Diana Ingram can be reached at DingramThurston21@gmail.com.
