We are what we celebrate: America's holiday calendar is increasingly
diverse
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[November 01, 2024]
By DEEPTI HAJELA
NEW YORK (AP) — John Albert's daughter isn't going to school on Friday.
And he couldn't be happier about it.
For the first time, the high school senior and all of New York City's
public school students have the day off to mark the holiday of Diwali,
celebrated in India and among the global Indian diaspora as the victory
of light over darkness and marked by communities of Hindus, Buddhists,
Jains and Sikhs.
To get the holiday added to the school calendar, where it joins other
days off for Rosh Hashanah, Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr as well as
federal holidays like Veterans Day, Christmas and Memorial Day, took
years of pushing from those in New York's South Asian and Indo-Caribbean
communities like Albert. But it was worth it.
“It was this feeling of wanting to weave our culture into New York,” he
said.
From religious and cultural holidays to region-specific commemorations
to days meant to honor the towering figures and moments of U.S. history,
the holiday calendars across the 50 states and the country at large are
increasingly diverse ones, a reflection of and a window into the many
communities that make up the American whole.
Recognizing holidays creates community
Including a smaller culture's or community's special days as something
to recognize in the larger general culture is an act of unity, says
Lauren Strauss, professor of modern Jewish history at American
University.
“By doing that in an American context and by including a Muslim feast
for the end of Ramadan and by including Diwali and including Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, my goodness. You’re just saying it out loud,
aren’t you? You’re saying that these cultures, these people, they aren’t
visitors, that they are a permanent part of this community, that it is
multicultural and multiethnic,” she says.
“Whether or not you think it’s good or bad, certainly it paints a
different picture of what it means to be American and what the American
calendar is.”
A look at what days are marked as holidays in places around the country
can be a crash course into what matters in those places. Louisiana, home
to New Orleans, takes a day for Mardi Gras. In Hawaii, the state marks a
day for King Kamehameha, who united the Hawaiian islands, as well as a
day for becoming a U.S. state. California and some other states mark
Cesar Chavez Day, named for the civil rights and labor movement
activist. In Texas and in the southwest, there are celebrations
scheduled for Friday marking Day of the Dead, the Mexican cultural
remembrance of loved ones who have passed.
The federal government, in addition to the 11 days that are days off for
federal workers, has a host of days that it marks as national
observances, like Harriet Tubman Day in March and Patriot Day on Sept.
11.
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It keeps greeting card companies on
their toes.
“Celebrating holidays and occasions, big or small, with the people
we care about is a vital thread that runs through our shared human
experience," Kelly Ricker, chief product officer at American
Greetings, said in a statement. The company is “studying and talking
to consumers, continuously” to keep up with the kinds of cards
people are looking for.
When Chris Sargiotto started his greeting card
company Apartment 2 Cards about 15 years ago, the holiday offerings
were limited to Christmas and Hanukkah. In recent years, he's added
Kwanzaa and Ramadan, and is looking to bring Diwali cards onto the
roster for next year.
The additional holidays were added because of requests from his
customers, the stores around that country that stock Apartment 2
cards, a reflection of increasing demand.
“It was stores asking for it because of their customers are asking
for it,” he said. “Whenever we introduce one of these specific
cards, it seems to take off. So I think there definitely is the need
for these.”
There can be challenges as well
But a holiday is not always uncontested. Take mid-October, when the
federal government recognizes Columbus Day. It was added to the
federal calendar in the 20th century after efforts from Italian
Americans, who pushed for it as a way to stake their community's
place in America.
In the decades after though, indigenous communities pushed back,
citing the impact of colonization on their people and the continuing
challenges. That has led to the spread of Indigenous People's Day
marked on the same day, which while not a federally recognized is
recognized in states around the country.
And sometimes there's some learning that needs to happen as well. In
Montville, New Jersey, the police department this month put a post
on Facebook explaining to the community that with Diwali
approaching, they would be more likely to see swastikas, a variation
of which are ancient sacred symbols in some religions and not
deployed in the way Hitler and the Nazis did.
With both Jewish and Hindu communities in the town, it was done in
an attempt to forestall misunderstanding, said Chief Andrew Caggiano,
and has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said, “to raise awareness about other
cultures that are that are in our community and that are part of our
community at this point.”
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