Holidays and Festivals in America Without Racism
All cultures have festivals that are essential in preserving cultural identity. Most cultures that we know about throughout history have used calendars or a system of keeping track of the changing seasons. The predictability of the sun and the moon, which correlates with the seasons, is both a comfort and a challenge because the earth’s environment is not entirely predictable. So, the calendar is essential for the economic life of every culture. And equally important is the role of calendars in ensuring that the festivals and cultural celebrations are observed every year.
Federal holidays in America
While people participate in many cultures in the United States, there is a white European culture that dominates the national culture. One strategy of domination and protecting privileges for whites is the use of federal holidays. Ending racism requires that the culture of domination needs to be replaced with a national culture of mutual respect for all cultures, a commitment to support a system where all cultures can thrive, and a willingness to learn about different cultures to enrich our national life. Understanding the way existing holidays function and finding alternatives is important in ending white domination. It is one step individuals can take to move America toward a multicultural future.
The federal holidays, with the exceptions of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and Juneteenth National Independence Day, are intended to celebrate American history as told through the lens of white history. Anti-racists have recognized the importance of removing or replacing monuments, street names, and buildings named after people who took up arms against the U.S. Constitution in the 1860s. In the same way, ending racism requires that we create or modify federal holidays, so they celebrate the values of cultural diversity. While monuments usually need to be removed by a government, individuals can choose how to celebrate a federal holiday. There are also ways that institutions can establish new practices or modify existing policies, so multicultural values are supported. And we can work to eliminate or modify holidays like Columbus Day by changing laws.
Cultural holidays in a multicultural America
Although there have been nations with borders that surround many cultures, all of them, that we know about, have one dominant culture that either tolerates or supports minority cultures. At Ending Racism USA, we define a multicultural nation as one where all individuals do not experience barriers that are greater than any other individual and where all identity groups participate equally in the political, economic, and cultural life of the nation. This requires that one group cannot exercise special privileges. So, according to this definition, how are individual cultures sustained in a multicultural nation?
The first observation is that every cultural expression requires the resources to preserve its cultural integrity. In 1941, Susanne K. Langer published a book entitled, “Philosophy in a New Key.” It proposed new ways for us to think about cultures, where they come from, and what sustains them. She argues that what binds groups together as a culture grows out of shared ritual experience. This includes language, cosmology, dance, festivals, music, and other customs. When we want to support and preserve cultures in a multicultural nation, we need to facilitate the ability to preserve those things that define a culture. That includes rituals and festivals.
As the Ending Racism USA Anti-Racism Calendar expands, it will include the dates and descriptions of festivals and anniversaries of many cultures. Individuals may choose to affirm these holidays as part of respecting and learning from different cultures.
A national culture in a multicultural America
W.E.B. Du Bois introduced the concept of “Double Consciousness” in his 1903 book, “The Soul of Black Folk.” For Du Bois, the question was how Black people can retain their identity and preserve Black culture while they are subjected to oppressive subordination by white American culture. He pointed to the difficulty Black people experience in seeing themselves through the eyes of the oppressive culture. The concept of double consciousness is useful in thinking about a multicultural America. An individual needs to be able to live in the culture that sustains them personally while also living in the national culture that sustains the values of multiculturalism.
It is impossible today to define all the characteristics of a national culture that is not based on racism. As racism disappears, we will also discover how to live in a multicultural nation. However, we can think about some things that will guide us toward that reality. And we can begin to implement them. For example, we could implement an economic system that does not discriminate for any reason; one that supports all people, provides equal access for individuals to their choice of medical care including alternatives to the existing medical industry; and allows access to healthy food, including foods that have cultural significance. Today we can work toward making characteristics of a multicultural nation a reality. All of these values will require the support of holidays, festivals, and anniversaries. America will need a calendar to keep track of festivals unique to specific cultures and holidays that are part of supporting the national culture.
Getting started
We can all start in 2024 to reflect carefully on the federal holidays and their role in preserving white domination and white privileges. Part of that process is experimenting with alternative activities or different approaches to the days on the calendar that name federal holidays.
We can also look for ways to support the festivals and anniversaries celebrated by various cultures. For example, we can encourage employers to adopt a policy of giving workers 5 or 6 days a year as floating holidays where employees can celebrate cultural festivals and anniversaries.
There is also work to be done to modify the calendar of federal holidays.
- One federal holiday needs to be removed from the calendar because it celebrates European colonialism, namely Columbus Day.
- Others, like Thanksgiving, need to be removed or greatly modified in the ways they are celebrated and their origin stories told.
- And most federal holidays need to be carefully reconsidered for observances that can be supportive of the values of a multicultural nation.
The Ending Racism USA Anti-Racism Calendar includes resources for the transformation of holidays so they support a multicultural nation.