FIVE HUNDRED years after the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the 15th century Spanish explorer in the Caribbean, a debate rages over the value and importance of his voyages and the impact they've had on the world since 1492.
News of this week's visit to Jamaica of Cristobol Colon de Carvajal, Duke of Veragua, said to be the 20th direct descendant of Columbus, has provided fuel for that debate. Respondents to our Letters to the Editor forum have questioned the propriety of welcoming and honouring the descendant of a man who, not only lost his way and stumbled on the shores in the region, but, in their eyes, led one of the biggest genocides of native peoples by foreign conquerors ever seen in the history of humanity. That's one perspective.
Another perspective is that Columbus's arrival opened the door between Europe and the Americas, between the New World and the Old. New republics were formed. There was an exchange of cultures; new ways of doing things more efficiently were introduced etc. The exchange might not have been fair but people do change one another as they come in contact with other peoples.
The sharp divide in the perspectives between the different cultures has changed little these past five centuries. But perhaps the Duke of Veragua's visit might serve as a useful point of departure, as he has suggested, for the development of Jamaica's heritage tourism.
People from other nations have learnt to exploit the good and the bad from their history to develop their heritage tourism. The Ghanaians have preserved the dungeons where thousands of slaves were held captive before being shipped across the Atlantic to work on plantations in the West Indies and the United States. These dungeons, which are visited each year by thousands of people, serve as a powerful tourist attraction to people of all races and as reminders of the evils of slavery. The Americans have built theme parks depicting their Civil War which ended in 1865 and museums highlighting the struggles by African-Americans for civil rights, as well as the holocaust in which thousands of Jews were annihilated.
As younger generations seek to find out more about their history, we in Jamaica, can do more with our artifacts and memorabilia to build heritage sites, both as attractions and to serve as educational tools.
Perhaps, the Duke of Veragua's visit can serve to spur the entrepreneurial spirit among us for the building or preservation of sites that will allow for a more-balanced and accurate depiction of our history than has been done to date.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
