Just Call it Amerigo Vespucci Day and Be Done with It
A lot of foreign national trolls seem to be weighing in on the Christopher Columbus controversy, so as an American I'm going to explain how this holiday came about.
In the 1930s we had a growing Italian population that were wahhhhing about how they needed representation as "Americans". So, Italian groups petitioned the US government to create Christopher Columbus Day in their honor and then spread this lie that we should all love Italians and see them as American because THEY "discovered" America.
Well, there were several things wrong about this from the start. Columbus never discovered America. He just didn't.
Secondly, there was always controversy about Columbus' heritage and loyalties, whether he was Italian or Portuguese. And he sailed for Spain--not Italy.
Third, we're called "America" after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mapmaker.
The Italians who moved here in droves were of a different class and region from Columbus. Taking credit and pride for his accomplishments because he was "Italian" was ridiculous.
The point is that Columbus Day was never a legitimate holiday. It was the first politically correct holiday, whipped up to make Americans think that they owe their entire country to dirt poor Sicilian peasants who got off the boat merely 50 years before and became organ grinders and sweatshop workers.