Today some parts of the United States celebrate Indigenous Peoples day, where we recognize the genocide(s) our country did in the process of Manifesting its Destiny.
This holiday was created to displace Christopher Columbus Day, which celebrated the achievements that made these genocide(s) possible. Columbus himself was a man who failed upwards by mistakenly discovering America after convincing some royalty to invest in his hilariously inaccurate estimate of the location of India. He was an enslaver, and was known even in his own lifetime as an incompetent and cruel administrator.
Ironically, Columbus Day also has a history of being used to atone for ethnic violence. The main reason Columbus came to be celebrated as a national hero in the United States was part of a broader effort to get people to stop murdering so many Italians, and each time it become more prominent was usually tied to apologizing for whatever racist shit had gone down recently. In 1892, the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first landing was emphasized by the federal government after 11 Italian-Americans were lynched in New Orleans earlier that year. In 1942, President Roosevelt chose Columbus Day to announce that American citizens would no longer be thrown in concentration camps for having Italian ancestry. And so forth.
The core conceit of Columbus Day is to sleight-of-hand a man of Italian heritage into the founding mythology of the United States, placing him among the pantheon we call The Founding Fathers. His membership there is subliminal proof that Italians can be "real Americans" just like white people. (Remember, the definition of "white" has changed over time and only recently has taken the simplistic meaning of "white-ish skin.")
Unfortunately the person chosen to tie Italian heritage into American's founding myth sucked ass and doesn't deserve the honor. Personally I would have chosen Amerigo Vespucci, who the USA is literally named after. Apparently the historicity of his contributions has varied over time and some considered him a thief or a fraud, but y'know... that's still an improvement on account of being lesser crimes than literal mass slavery.
I am greatly amused to find that Columbus, Ohio is one of the cities that does not recognize Columbus Day.
On a personal note, my local statue of Columbus is gigantic but has been wrapped in plastic for two years so no one can see it (see picture above), while lawsuits play out over whether it can be removed from public grounds. A new ruling came down last week to get rid of it. We'll see how that goes. (Updated for 2023: Still not decided.)
