Blog Post #2: Week 2

Question for the week:
Do you think the colonization movement was empathetic? Is it reasonable to demand empathy from them?

In this week's readings and videos, I revisit a topic I have studied all my life: Cristopher Columbus and his discovery of America. In the Puerto Rican educational system, we all go through a weird relationship with Columbus. When one is in middle school, I remember reading idealistic portrayals of Columbus, portrayed as a man with a cause. Someone who inspired to inspire. As the years went by, and the history courses started using more primary resources, my conceptualization of Columbus began to morph. It suddenly became odd to label Columbus as the "man who freed us," which is how I remember reading about him in middle school.

Why so? Because of people like Guaman Poma. Poma was an Andean native, a member of the Yarovilca dynasty, born around 1535. After collaborating with the Spanish against his fellow Indians, he eventually became active on behalf of Andean causes. He spent roughly three decades composing his impassioned letter to the King, which he titled "Nueva Coronica I Buen Gobierno," or "New Chronicle and Good Government." He wanted autonomy. And he felt that the incredible suffering at the hands of the colonizers was uncalled for.

Who were the Spaniards to consider themselves as "better rulers" just because of their advanced technologies and different beliefs? Who were they to IMPOSE their way of life into the traditional lifestyle that the Indigenous people of the "Old World" carried?

These questions illuminate the most disappointing fact about the colonization era: the lack of empathy. The colonizers thought they had a mission. But their purpose was utterly unilateral. They didn't care to communicate with these people. They didn't mind learning about their customs. They didn't think they were capable enough to have worthy ideas or conceptions of the world.

It wasn't until someone like Poma spoke to them in their own language that they took a decision. Poma had to depict scenes of unspeakable violence and outrage against natives. For example, a wide-eyed priest kicking a pregnant woman who kneels at his feet, or a magistrate and lieutenant pulling the sheet that covers a nude Indian woman, or the decapitation of an Incan. Guaman Poma spoke in their language, using imagery that argued for the dignity of his people and the logic of self-rule.

You may be wondering, what decision did the colonizers take after examining Poma's manuscript? The colonial authorities deemed him a subversive and exiled from Haumanga, the city where he lived.