Americans' opinion of identity politics changes with the seasons

This politically correct pushback has led Italian Americans to defend Columbus, rally around Columbus Day and assert their ethnic pride. It has also provided an opportunity to share their historical contributions to the United States.

There is a lot to share. From 1880 to 1930, about 6 million Italian immigrants found their way to America. They were hard workers, and so they helped provide the labor for American factories, mills and mines. If it was built in the early 20th century -- from roads and bridges, to dams and tunnels -- chances are that an Italian American had a hand in building it.

In return for all that hard work, Italian Americans were -- see if this sounds familiar -- demonized, attacked, discriminated against and scapegoated for every societal ill. They were told their families were too big, their accents too thick, and their natural abilities too limited. Their prospects for white-collar work were slim.

Today, according to the Census Bureau, Italian Americans account for 6% of the U.S. population. More than 15 million people in the United States identity themselves as Italian Americans. You can bet that a few million more prefer the euphemism "Americans of Italian descent." Whatever we call them, they're the fifth largest ethnic group in the U.S.

Once again, Americans are arguing over identity politics. And, once again, it's the wrong argument. Instead of debating whom we should honor or what we should name a particular day, we should confront our inconsistencies. We can't just flip the script when convenient.

Calm down, folks. There is nothing wrong -- and a lot right -- with honoring our many different ethnicities, cultures and languages. In fact, the concept is as American as strudel, cannoli, baklava and flan.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.