Because Christopher Columbus was kind of a jerk (to put it mildly). As the article puts it, "He discovered the New World much like a meteorite discovered the dinosaurs."
But Bartolomé de las Casas was a pretty cool guy, and certainly more worthy of recognition and holidays than Columbus. (More on him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolom%C3%A9_de_las_Casas)
Christopher Columbus was awful (but this other guy was not) – The Oatmeal
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Let's get Columbus, Ohio, to change its name.
I'm willing to let the people of Columbus make that decision for themselves, though the name of the city (as well as the District of Columbia) now carry their own significance beyond the man they were named for.
No! Force it on them, as Columbus would have! It's what they get for naming themselves after him.
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