Is Kwanzaa a legitimate holiday?

[Ebowed]

Sparked by some comments in the December holidays thread.  it's your choose...

[Rin-chan]

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Rin-chan

[© tweed]

Option 3

[dazzleman]

option 2 -- there's no reason it can't be considered a legitimate holiday.

Still, I question whether more separatism for blacks is advisable when the level of separation is already so high.

[Gabu]

I know nothing about it whatsoever, really.

[dazzleman]

I know nothing about it whatsoever, really.

..there isn't much to know frankly.  It's a holiday celebrated by blacks.  Some of the ideas that blacks are supposed to celebrate in Kwanzaa have been said to be communistic, but that is only if they're taken in the most literal sense.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Option 2.

[Yates]

No.

[Erc]

No--if I remember correctly, it was invented by someone who, shortly after, got put in jail on a couple of murder counts...not to mention that it's entirely made up.

[Alcon]

Has anyone here actually met anyone who celebrates it?  All of the black people I know celebrate Christmas or Hannukah.

[dazzleman]

Has anyone here actually met anyone who celebrates it?  All of the black people I know celebrate Christmas or Hannukah.

I have a friend who's black who half celebrates it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

According to some study done by a marketing association, only 1.6% of Americans celebrate Kwanzaa. Since 12.3% of Americans are black, that means that even 87% of blacks don't celebrate Kwanzaa.

[bgwah]

It's bullsh**t, but so is Christmas. I voted for option 2.

Preserving existing culture is one thing, making up silly holidays to be different is another.

[Defarge]

option 2.  the holiday makes no sense, but *shrug* whatever floats your boat.

[7,052,770]

no..it was just made up in the 60's, and NO ONE I know celebrates it...and remember Mississippi has the highest % of blacks in the US

[ilikeverin]

Maybe it should be moved to February to make it concurrent with Black History Month?

[nclib]

Option 2.

[7,052,770]

Maybe it should be moved to February to make it concurrent with Black History Month?

Black History Month is ridiculous too though...

[Jake]

Option Three

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

No.

[Cubby]

No it is not a legitimate holiday. It's a celebration that was artificially created in the 1960's to "fill a void" by some Harvard graduate student. Companies and popular culture are afraid of a backlash if they don't put it on the same level as Christmas and Hannukah. No one really celebrates it, and if they do, its probably out of some sense of black solidarity, its not that they really believe in Kwanzaa.

option 2 -- there's no reason it can't be considered a legitimate holiday.

Congratulations on your new bleeding heart

Isn't the very idea of Kwanzaa part of the same liberal academic tradition that you despise? It was created in a lab lol!

[??????????]

Maybe it should be moved to February to make it concurrent with Black History Month?

Black History Month is ridiculous too though...

Let them have a month. We have the other eleven on the calender.

[Q]

No one really celebrates it, and if they do, its probably out of some sense of black solidarity, its not that they really believe in Kwanzaa.

I agree.

And more of my black friends celebrate Hanukkah than Kwanzaa, the latter number being 0.

[dazzleman]

No it is not a legitimate holiday. It's a celebration that was artificially created in the 1960's to "fill a void" by some Harvard graduate student. Companies and popular culture are afraid of a backlash if they don't put it on the same level as Christmas and Hannukah. No one really celebrates it, and if they do, its probably out of some sense of black solidarity, its not that they really believe in Kwanzaa.

option 2 -- there's no reason it can't be considered a legitimate holiday.

Congratulations on your new bleeding heart

Isn't the very idea of Kwanzaa part of the same liberal academic tradition that you despise? It was created in a lab lol!

Pym, I generally agree with what you're saying, especially the part about companies fearing a backlash.  It seems companies fear backlashes for ignoring holidays from just about everybody except the 95% of people who celebrate Christmas.  This is just another example of the tyranny of the minority which is the scourge of the age in which we live.

Having said that, there's nothing particularly wrong with the holiday, per se.  It's most definitely not even close to Christmas, and should not be considered so.  Once a holiday really takes root, which I'm not sure that Kwanzaa has, I'm not sure the origins matter.  Blacks would probably say that there's no other way they can redevelop their ancient culture, since it was ripped away from them.  That's true of course; what I question is whether seeking to redevelop ancient culture is really that desirable or a good use of time and energy for a people who have so many present day problems.  But that's another discussion.

As far as me being a bleeding heart, that is pretty funny.   I know a lot of black people and have a certain sensitivity to race that a lot of whites may lack, though I can't say that I really agree with, or see things from, what is defined as the standard black perspective today.  In fact, I think that perspective has become toxic, and it is out of concern for black well-being that I oppose it.  To some people of course, that makes me a racist, but in my mind, the results speak for themselves, and when something clearly isn't working, it is foolish to stick with out of a misplaced sense of solidarity, as many blacks and politically correct guilty white liberals do.

[Speed of Sound]

Certainly it is. Any holiday that is seriously celebrated should be considered equal to ANY other holiday.