Racist “satire” video shows why we need Indigenous People’s Day [updated]

UPDATE (10/10/17 @ 6:25 PM ET): A full day later, Ben Shapiro dropped the “it’s satire” defense and issued an apology. I’ve replaced the now-deleted original video below with a copy from Mediaite.

You may be aware that Christopher Columbus was a clueless fraud and a barbaric monster, and that there’s growing pressure to do away with Columbus Day and replace it with a celebration of the people he destroyed. But even if you weren’t aware, you’ll (hopefully) never be as benighted as the people working for conservative rag The Daily Wire, who produced this hideously racist little video to mark the occasion:

Transcript:

(Click to open/close:) [−]

Opens with a title card: “The Americas / Before Christopher Columbus / c.1491”

There’s a cheap animation of Native-Americans around a fire with a tepee in the background. Corner text: “The North American Indigenous people are a noble people …”

Then some cartoonishly barbaric caricatures of Native-Americans arrive and slaughter the first group. One man eats the leg of another.

Then Columbus’s ship sails. Corner text: “1492”

The handsome White Columbus disembarks and immediately improves the Natives’ lives with compasses, silverware, carpentry and cows.

Corner text: “1492–2017”. Crops grow, then are flattened and replaced by a modern city. New corner text: “Shouldn’t we go back to a more peaceful time?”

Then, a chart with a “List of Contributions”. In the “Pre-Columbus: 12,000 BC – 1491 AD” column: Dreamcatchers, Tomahawks, Cannibalism. In the “After Columbus: 1492 AD – Present” column: Written language, Horses, Mathematics, Indoor Plumbing, Not-Scalping, Human rights, Underwear, Toothbrush, The Simpsons, etc.

Finally, title card: “Happy Indigenous People’s Day!”

Huh. I didn’t know that written languages and mathematics were only invented after 1492. In fact, I still don’t know that.

When asked about why he greenlit this garbage, the Wire’s Editor-in-Chief and Right-wing “journalist” Ben Shapiro said he’s vacationing and didn’t see the video, but also, it’s just satire, dumb Lefties! He ends with “Conservatives are allowed to make satire, too.” No-one’s saying they can’t, but if they’re going to make it offensively unfunny and bigoted, perhaps they just shouldn’t.

To cleanse your palate, here’s a much better video about Christopher Columbus and his legacy, courtesy of Adam Ruins Everything:

(via @joeprince___; RT: @KrangTNelson)