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Cultural Sensitivity of Holidays Observances in a Multicultural Society

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P

ppor

Member
Same date, different connotation. Both Cinco De Mayo and Holocaust Remembrance Day fall on May 5th, how will you be spending that night?

Will you kick back a few Coronas and mojitos at the bar across from work? Or will you have a somber evening watching Schindler's List and teaching your children about the Holocaust?

The larger question is, as a multicultural society, the U.S. plays host to numerous festivals, observances, and religious holidays that originate from all over the world. I'm curious how our society should balance cultural awareness without giving short-shrift to the underlying cultures they represent.

Growing up, I never really learned about Cinco De Mayo. Like the average American, I just assumed it was Mexico's Independence Day (September 16) rather the actual intended meaning, celebrating the victory of the Battle of Puebla over French imperialists. And as an adult, it's a popular excuse to drink in America, and probably a bigger deal here than in Mexico. Meanwhile, the Holocaust is taught in school, but I've never heard of the May 5th day of remembrance until today or met any who make observances that day.

If I were an educator (I'm not an expert), I'd feel conflicted about the lesson plan for that day. Do we go on a field trip to The Mexican Museum or the Contemporary Jewish Museum? If we have a Cinco De Mayo fair at elementary school, do we hold a moment of vigil before the festivities? Should I avoid buying a piñata of a pig? Should I do half-and-half lessons on Mexico and on the Holocaust, or devote the week to alternating between the subjects? And for society at large, will both be given equal importance?

It seems like a milder version of the Christmas conundrum each December, like how to respect other holidays like Hanakkah and Kwanzaa without favoritism. What do you think about the politicized nature of the "War on Christmas” regarding the University of Tennessee memo on holiday parties last year?

One guideline reads, "Holiday parties and celebrations should not play games with religious and cultural themes–for example, 'Dreidel' or 'Secret Santa.' If you want to exchange gifts, then refer to it in a general way, such as a practical joke gift exchange or secret gift exchange."
Click to expand...

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/...sive-holiday-guidelines-controversy/76781826/

It's an issue that every nation with immigrants or subcultures deals with, and I'm curious how you think the US or your own country is doing in regards to cross-cultural awareness of holidays and celebrations?

—

This was inspired by the Sacramento Kings thread regarding Black History Month coinciding with Chinese New Year:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1179080
 
T

TheGamingBox

Banned
aoz8kgx8pzknypz7z38n.jpg


didnt even know there was a holocaust rememberence day
 
A

AlexBasch

Member
RiccochetJ said:
Pretty sure that like St. Patrick's Day, it's observed as a reason to drink.
Click to expand...
Sounds good to me!

Shit, it's just that as a Mexican, that day means shit to us.

I mean yeah, Mexico won a battle against France, but putting it into soccer terms, it's like Mexico won the first leg of the final, and then we lost our MVP Ignacio Zaragoza because of thypoid fever and then France won the second leg with along with the better aggregate score and the cup (Mexico City)

One won battle and the second meant the fall of Benito Juarez's government. Yeah, big holiday alright. :|
 
RiccochetJ

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
AlexBasch said:
Sounds good to me!

Shit, it's just that as a Mexican, that day means shit to us.

I mean yeah, Mexico won a battle against France, but putting it into soccer terms, it's like Mexico won the first leg of the final, and then we lost our MVP Ignacio Zaragoza because of thypoid fever and then France won the second leg with along with the better aggregate score and the cup (Mexico City)

One won battle and the second meant the fall of Benito Juarez's government. Yeah, big holiday alright. :|
Click to expand...

Pretty amazing what commercialization of a particular date or holiday can do isn't it?
 
M

Mass_Pincup

Banned
AlexBasch said:
Sounds good to me!

Shit, it's just that as a Mexican, that day means shit to us.

I mean yeah, Mexico won a battle against France, but putting it into soccer terms, it's like Mexico won the first leg of the final, and then we lost our MVP Ignacio Zaragoza because of thypoid fever and then France won the second leg with along with the better aggregate score and the cup (Mexico City)

One won battle and the second meant the fall of Benito Juarez's government. Yeah, big holiday alright. :|
Click to expand...

Today I just learned that Cinco de Mayo was in relation to a battle against France.

We don't even learn that in class.
 
D

Dai101

Banned
AlexBasch said:
Sounds good to me!

Shit, it's just that as a Mexican, that day means shit to us.

I mean yeah, Mexico won a battle against France, but putting it into soccer terms, it's like Mexico won the first leg of the final, and then we lost our MVP Ignacio Zaragoza because of thypoid fever and then France won the second leg with along with the better aggregate score and the cup (Mexico City)

One won battle and the second meant the fall of Benito Juarez's government. Yeah, big holiday alright. :|
Click to expand...

Excelent analogy. Is just an off day for offices and government, nothing else

Mass_Pincup said:
Today I just learned that Cinco de Mayo was in relation to a battle against France.

We don't even learn that in class.
Click to expand...

Yep. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Puebla

Give it a read. I have no fucking idea how it became so big in the U.S.
 
A

AnathemicOne

Banned
Just have both holidays celebrated by their respective communities. To bring up a similar topic, the issue of Chinese Lunar New Year festival and Black History Month in another thread doesn't really bother me as a Chinese person because the celebration can still go on within the Chinese communities I frequent. The same can apply with Cinco de Mayo and Holocaust Remembrance in having their respective communties separate and not infringing on their celebrations/practices.
 
J

Joni

Member
There is a gigantic list of Holocaust Memorial Days, some of them more relevant than May 5th. There is only one Cinco De Mayo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Memorial_Days
As for me, I only celebrate the ones pertaining to my culture, and even those are already a crapshoot. I don't care about Christmas, Easter or Independence Day for instance. Wouldn't it be unrespectful to steal the celebration of another culture?
 
B

besada

Banned
ppor said:
Jokes aside, I really want to hear how people here think about the larger topic at hand.
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I think people should generally celebrate or not celebrate according to their own desires. Schools should try to cover the relevant events, so in your hypothetical, I'd like to see coverage about the holocaust and Cinco de Mayo, although not neccesarily in the same class, and not necessarily treated the same way. I think something like having a Cinco de Mayo day at school, while covering the holocaust in class makes sense. In this specific case, the holiday itself -- Cinco de Mayo -- tends to be more important than the historical event, whereas the obverse is true for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
 
C

crazy monkey

Banned
i am basically from india. we celebrated everything from everyone. everyone participated in good or bad of others where i came from.
 
C

Chichikov

Member
I'm a Jew of eastern European descent, large parts of my extended family perished in the Holocaust and I've had survivor relatives which I knew very well.
I'll be drinking them Coronas.
It's a personal choice and I don't judge anyone on that, but I don't feel like I need a reminder of the Holocaust and I like to drink.

Also, the day in question is Yom Hashoah, which is the Israeli version of the holocaust memorial day, the date was chosen because Israel used to put big emphasis on the Jewish resistance during the holocaust, and not for the right reasons. Not to play down the people who did fight the Nazis, my uncle survived the Terblinka uprising, but the story of the holocaust is mostly about what happen when military force and industrial efficiency are applied to massacre defenseless civilian population, the resistance is a tiny part of that.

The International Holocaust Memorial Day which commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz and is observed on January 27th is much more appropriate if you ask me.

Also, in Israel if Yom Hashoah falls on a Saturday it is moved so it doesn't conflict with it, so there's that.

But really, I like to drink and I like Mexico, I know Cinco De Mayo is not really like a thing, but fuck it, I need a drink something fierce.
 
P

ppor

Member
AnathemicOne said:
Just have both holidays celebrated by their respective communities. To bring up a similar topic, the issue of Chinese Lunar New Year festival and Black History Month in another thread doesn't really bother me as a Chinese person because the celebration can still go on within the Chinese communities I frequent. The same can apply with Cinco de Mayo and Holocaust Remembrance in having their respective communties separate and not infringing on their celebrations/practices.
Click to expand...

I think one of the concerns is mainstream recognition. Sub-communities will definitely observe their own holidays, but society at large can often struggle to adapt each various group.

It's definitely noticeable in public schools when Jewish and Muslim students have to take a day off to observe holidays, meanwhile Christmas comes "for free" as a holiday to everyone.

Also at work, I noticed our French office PTO schedule, and was kinda shocked (maybe I shouldn't be). Though nominally a secular society, half of the public holidays are Catholic celebrations, meanwhile Muslim immigrants are increasingly becoming a larger part of their society and I'm not certain they'll ever get official holidays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_France

Also the thing about Cinco De Mayo being an administrative holiday in Mexico but increasingly seen as a symbol of Mexican heritage in American schools, is one of those cases when a local celebration kind of cross boundaries into the mainstream.

EDIT: Not to mention Jehovah's Witnesses who don't believe in celebrating holidays, so any public observation of Christian/Jewish/Muslim holidays would undesirable to them. I don't think our society can really bend to that though, but I'm sure they're already used to it.

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/should-christians-celebrate-holidays/
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
Commemorating two observances in one day? That sure is one dedicated teacher.

You'd probably do one or the other, preferably the more popular one (which would be Cinco de Mayo, in this case). You could commemorate the Holocaust on an entirely different day, since no one would know the difference.
 
P

ppor

Member
MIMIC said:
Commemorating two observances in one day? That sure is one dedicated teacher.

You'd probably do one or the other, preferably the more popular one (which would be Cinco de Mayo, in this case). You could commemorate the Holocaust on an entirely different day, since no one would know the difference.
Click to expand...

It's kinda unfortunate that the US didn't follow suit with the UN and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Day which occurs on Jan 27 every year, less chance of conflict there. But I understand because the US date follows the Israeli observance.

The overlap with the US Holocaust memorial and Cinco De Mayo is actually an unfortunate cooincidence, like the Black History Month/Chinese New Year situation. The US Holocaust date pegs itself to the Hebrew lunar calendar, so it can shuffle anytime between April and May.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
ppor said:
The overlap with the US Holocaust memorial and Cinco De Mayo is actually an unfortunate cooincidence, like the Black History Month/Chinese New Year situation. The US Holocaust date pegs itself to the Hebrew lunar calendar, so it can shuffle anytime between April and May.
Click to expand...

The inherent elements of each observance made the overlap unfortunate. As far as I know, there isn't any crucial part of either observance (Cinco de Mayo & Holocaust Remembrance Day) that would make it offensive for both to co-exist. I mean, if wearing a gas mask for Cinco de Mayo was a thing, then yeah....it would be an unfortunate coincidence.
 
P

ppor

Member
MIMIC said:
The inherent elements of each observance made the overlap unfortunate. As far as I know, there isn't any crucial part of either observance (Cinco de Mayo & Holocaust Remembrance Day) that would make it offensive for both to co-exist. I mean, if wearing a gas mask for Cinco de Mayo was a thing, then yeah....it would be an unfortunate coincidence.
Click to expand...

The Chinese New Year issue actually does tie back, in a perverse way.

With the background that "pig" is sometimes used as a pejorative slur for Jews (very unfortunate based on Israeli/Palestinian conflict)
http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-1.605977
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ca8d41-b5a4-4790-9b53-c94e75da4ba6_story.html

- The UN International Holocaust Remembrance date falls on Jan 27.
- Chinese New Year is 2 week long celebration, festivities start with Xiao Nian 8 days before the official CNY (Xin Nian) date. Both are celebrated days.
- NBA teams are handing out CNY shirts with "Year of the Animal" printed on
- In Year of the Pig 2055, Xiao Nian starts on Jan 26th (Xin Nian on Feb 2)
- In Year of the Pig 2079, Xin Nian starts on Jan 28th
- Choosing a culturally appropriate date can get tricky if you don't understand the Chinese lunar calendar, or if Jan 26 or 28 are away/off days, but 27 is a home game.
- What you don't want is "Year of the Pig" shirts being passed out on Jan 27. Obviously Jan 26/28 or Feb 2 are fine days.
- But inevitably in the future, one Xiao Nian will fall on Jan 27, and one Xin Nian will fall on Jan 27, based on how the calendar works.

Gets tricky, and without the cultural context to avoid the situation, it can look bad.

Reminds me of another time when Chow.com published their Passover cooking suggestions, but included ingredients like cake flour and leavening. Meaning their food failed the whole no-leavening Passover concept. Reaching out for diversity, while not understanding who you're reaching towards, can be a recipe (heh) for disaster.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
OK, but I thought you were using May 5th as the example for the Holocaust observance date.

Nonetheless, the only reason there was an issue in the first place was because of how widely known the observances are. These days, there is pretty much a holiday for everything. Like today: it's at least 10 different things, (USO Day, World Cancer Day, Torture Abolition Day, National Thank a Mailman Day, etc.) I'm pretty sure that to 99% of the United States, today is just February 4th.

Who has even heard of Holocaust remembrance day?
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
Combine them into a single activity of depressive drinking.

But more seriously, I didn't know it was holocaust remembrance day and I've never done any sort of celebration for Cinco De Mayo. No plans to do anything forward, but at least I'm knowledgeable that holocaust remembrance day is a thing, and it's on an easy day to remember because of Cinco De Mayo.
 
P

ppor

Member
MIMIC said:
OK, but I thought you were using May 5th as the example for the Holocaust observance date.

Nonetheless, the only reason there was an issue in the first place was because of how widely known the observances are. These days, there is pretty much a holiday for everything. Like today: it's at least 10 different things, (USO Day, World Cancer Day, Torture Abolition Day, National Thank a Mailman Day, etc.) I'm pretty sure that to 99% of the United States, today is just February 4th.

Who has even heard of Holocaust remembrance day?
Click to expand...

It does boil down to a culture thing, Jews in Israel, US, Canada, etc will be more cognizant of the various Holocaust memorial days, but to other people it will just be another May 5 or Jan 27. So when others make their plans for the day, like coincidentally scheduling a pro-Palestinian street protest or whatever, you get into these weird cultural juxtapositions. When observance dates follow a lunar calendar, it gets harder to anticipate.

Even higher profile holidays that people are aware of, like Chinese New Year or Ramadan, to mainstream Americans who don't observe it, honestly it's just another Tuesday to them. Maybe they'll greet their Chinese or Muslim neighbors slightly differently that day. But when these observances slip into mainstream holidays, you can get trouble, justified or not.

For example, the final day of Ramadan (and the celebrations that occurs the days after) just happened to miss both September 11 (in 2010) and July 4 (2016 this year). Just one or two days off. Imagine some Fox New-ish conservative outrage when some "Happy Ramadan" graphics gets shown on TV networks on 9/11, or if Ramadan is mentioned by an announcer before some local 4th of July fireworks show. In that case we'd say any potential outrage is Islamphobic, but goes to show how tenuous things can get.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan_(calendar_month)#Timing
 
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