> My grandparents were born in the 1920s. One side is Polish, the other side is Italian. Columbus Day was started by the Italian community to show that they we

> My grandparents were born in the 1920s. One side is Polish, the other side is Italian. Columbus Day was started by the Italian community to show that they were 'really American': > The first national Columbus Day was proclaimed in 1892 by Republican President Benjamin Harrison to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus’s supposed discovery of America. > But for Harrison, it served another purpose: to help resolve a diplomatic crisis with Italy — and gain support among Italian American voters — after rioters in New Orleans lynched 11 Italian immigrants the year before. * https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/10/10/columbus-day-benjamin-harrison-mob-italians/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/10/10/columbus-d... Italians were not "white" to many Americans: * https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/12/opinion/columbus-day-italian-american-racism.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/12/opinion/colum...