Christopher Columbus has been exposed as a very wicked person. This has led to a chorus of disparaging remarks about the national holiday in his honor. In 2014, a popular comedy news show asked, “How is this still a thing?” The show ran a short video that poked fun at the holiday as outdated and suggested that Americans should stop celebrating it. Also, numerous states have already ceased recognizing it officially. Not surprisingly, Portland, Ore., took the feel-good step of replacing Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day.” Nevertheless, I celebrate Columbus Day and think Americans should continue the tradition.

There are real grounds for celebrating the man. It was no small feat of bravery and ingenuity that led Columbus to the shores of the New World. You may call his quest for riches selfish, but saying an action is “selfish” implies pettiness, and a quest around the world has nothing petty about it. Columbus’ self-interest led to a grand quest for riches. That quest, and the man who conceived it, fire the imaginations of young people, and that is a good and worthwhile thing. There is a second reason to celebrate Columbus Day, which is that Columbus is one of the more recent historical figures to be attacked by liberals.