"Indians scare me, Mommy"

Dueling views on whether the Columbus Day protests are doing any good:

Columbus Day Protesters Pushed Infamy Over Free Speech[A]s this week’s verdict demonstrates, the public is growing tired of this annual battle. By continuing on, Lane and his radical clients have done nothing to help their cause, especially in my household, where my two-year-old daughter is now deeply afraid of American Indians.

Her fear is not the result of some bigoted Hollywood movie production. Rather, it’s because of the radical activists themselves. On a morning walk with my husband not far from our home in downtown Denver on the day of the last parade, my daughter heard the sound of drums and wanted a closer look. As she leaned forward in her stroller, protestors jumped out in front of her, splashing their “blood” onto the street.

Nearly four months later, she still talks about the event. Every time she hears the sound of a drum, she says “boom, boom, boom. Indians scare me, Mommy.”JOHNSON:  Standing up for a cause--and then going to jailI also learned that Glenn Morris, who has been protesting the Columbus Day Parade in this town for 20 years, has been arrested four times and stood trial three times, and that he doesn't care as much about Columbus as he does about using the holiday to highlight the problems of Native Americans.

Those include some of the nation's highest diabetes, teenage suicide, infant mortality and cervical cancer rates.

"We protest to educate people that the lands they are on are a result of the loss of native lands and our culture," Glenn Morris said. "This parade is a deliberate, state-sponsored and hateful celebration of devastating colonialism."

It is why he goes to jail every October.

He believes his method is working.

"There are teachers," Glenn Morris said, "who are teaching Columbus differently. I guarantee you nobody is teaching Columbus the way they did in 1989. I consider that a small victory. The Civil Rights Era in this country did not happen overnight."Comment:  The first author's daughter may be scared of Indians because of her mother's negative attitude. See my comments at the end of her column.

If Morris doesn't care that much about Columbus, what's his excuse for claiming he had to protest the parade because Columbus intimidates Indians? Sounds like he should pay the entire cost of arresting and trying him, not just the fine he was given.

I suspect the protests are helping to educate Americans about Columbus. More precisely, the media reports about the protests are helping to educate Americans. If Morris could write a killer essay about Columbus--such as those found on BlueCornComics.com and in Newspaper Rock--he might not need to throw paint or scare little kids annually.