30. The Fountain of Our Hispanic Heritage
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By Miguel Pérez
People were shouting "Viva España" and celebrating the great achievements of the Spanish conquistadors in Florida last week. They were dressing up as Spanish explorers, firing muskets and even cannons, listening to history lectures and attending Catholic masses in recognition that Christianity came to America with much more compassion than history tells us. In two days and two cities, they celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery and landing by Juan Ponce de Leon on the flowery land he called "La Florida." They were showcasing our normally hidden Hispanic heritage, and there I was, in the middle of it all, thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity to see it with my own eyes. Borrowing a line from baseball, I kept telling myself, "I live for this." I heard non-Latino politicians, historians and clergy recognizing the contributions of our Spanish ancestors. I heard Spanish government officials expressing gratitude for Florida's "dedication to commemorate and remember the importance of the Spanish contribution to the history of Florida and the United States." I heard them speaking about the assets of diversity, the importance of history and the unfair and negative effects of the Black Legend, that centuries old campaign by English, French and American writers to minimize the accomplishments of the Spanish explorers and their Latino descendants. "We celebrate First America, the genesis of the American culture, where Hispanics and African-Americans and Native American mingled together in this area," said Dana Ste. Claire, one of the celebration organizers in St. Augustine. "We are talking about the birth of the American culture. It happened right here." Instead of the fountain of youth in the nation's oldest city, I had reached the fountain of our Hispanic heritage. Frankly, I must have looked like a total nerd, trying to take notes, photos and videos at the same time. Trying to interview people who were often walking in different directions and trying two speak to them in two different languages. But I wanted so much to share what the rest of America was missing. I wanted all my fellow Americans to see Ponce de Leon get the recognition he deserves. I wanted everyone to hear what I was hearing. "First of all, he was most likely the official European discoverer and founder of America," Ste. Claire told a crowd of several hundred people who had gathered Wednesday around the Ponce de Leon Statue in St. Augustine's downtown bay front. "Yes, we celebrate the founding of Florida — La Florida — by Juan Ponce, but keep in mind, too, that he was the first official European to touch the shores of mainland America." I couldn't help myself. I was the one who shouted, "Bravo!" For several years in this column, I have been arguing that the Quincentennial of our discovery should have been a national celebration because Ponce de Leon didn't just discover the peninsula that is now the State of Florida, but the mainland that is now the United States. You may have missed it in the news last week because the national media didn't pay much attention. But in Florida, we celebrated our country's discovery day, our 500th birthday! Because two cities are competing over the right to claim they are closer to the spot where Ponce the Leon actually landed in 1513, I covered numerous events in Melbourne Beach on April 2 and in St. Augustine on April 3. Both cities hosted commemorative ceremonies, celebrated Catholic masses and held wonderful reenactments of the Ponce de Leon landing. "But why wasn't this Quincentennial of our discovery a national celebration?" I kept asking everyone. "Why is this happening only in two Florida towns?" And while I got mostly evasive answers from both Spanish and American politicians — all unwilling to deal with controversy during a festive occasion — I got a very realistic response from one of the Melbourne Beach re-enactors: "In my experience, what I have discovered from many of the people I have met is that people still don't have a good understanding of our history," said Jose Gueits Romero, who, meticulously dressed as conquistador, spoke in Spanish with a heavy Spanish accent. "Particularly the people in city hall and in the state and federal governments, they still have a lot to learn." Mind you, in both cities, well-informed historians, politicians and clergy recognized that there were indigenous people living in Florida before the Spanish arrived, and that the collision of the Spanish and Native American cultures had some negative consequences, especially diseases that wiped out native populations. But they also recognized the many good things that resulted from that encounter, and sometimes they had do it over the screams of a handful of protesters who, in both cities, tried to disrupt the celebrations with blatant displays of ignorance and attacks against our Spanish heritage that bordered on racism. Amazingly, while historical evidence shows that it was the Spanish who were under constant attacks from the Florida natives during Ponce de Leon's first voyage, and while it was the natives who killed Ponce de Leon shortly after arriving on his second voyage, those who still promote the Black Legend held picket signs proclaiming that, "Juan Ponce de Leon and his men are guilty of mass murder, rape and genocide." |
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Although they think of themselves as progressive human rights activists, they were there to showcase their Black Legend-influenced bigotry against our Spanish heritage. Let's face it: It requires a certain degree of stubborn ignorance to accuse Ponce de Leon of committing genocide in Florida, especially while some of the state's most prominent historians were asserting that Ponce de Leon "did not wish to do the natives harm, but was forced to fight in order to save his men's lives." And especially when Catholic bishops were reminding us that Spain's Franciscan missionaries were "the first civil rights leaders of the New World."
But that's fodder for at least another column. In this space next week, I'll tell you much more of what I learned from some of Florida's most renowned historians, and from prominent Catholic clergy, who gave me a new fountain of information from which to drink, and much more impetus to keep uprooting America's hidden Hispanic heritage.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM
But that's fodder for at least another column. In this space next week, I'll tell you much more of what I learned from some of Florida's most renowned historians, and from prominent Catholic clergy, who gave me a new fountain of information from which to drink, and much more impetus to keep uprooting America's hidden Hispanic heritage.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM
