Diversity During The Holidays

“Happy Holidays” is a phrase you hear quite a lot during the holiday season, it’s used frequently in education and workplaces as an alternative way of saying “Merry Christmas” in order to maintain the holiday season as a more religious and cultural inclusive time. For many people they see no reason to say “Happy Holidays” because Christmas is what they’re celebrating, so that’s the phrase they see fit to use, whether they are withdrawing from a conversation or just wishing another individual their best. Yet, the holiday season is not something that is solely Christmas, nor is it merely Kwanzaa or Hanukkah; it is a diverse and expansive season that includes countless traditions celebrated by religions – aside from Christianity – and many other cultures across the globe.

During the holidays, there has been opposition towards being aware of other traditions aside from one’s own,  much like the recent ‘Starbucks’ cup crisis of 2015 followed by this year’s released design. There was controversy of Starbucks declaring “war” on the Christmas holiday concerning their past cup design which was a simple red gradient. In the most extreme cases, consumers that were affected by this cup design took to the internet much like Joshua Feuerstein, whose video commentary over the 2015 crisis went viral, but not for the apparent reason. Feuerstein’s video overviewed his opinion on the design and his heated concern over “war on Christmas” and prosecution of Christians by companies during the holidays.  

As for this year’s cup, they provide festive images of wrapped presents, ribbons, and stars accompanied by a racially and sexually ambiguous couple holding hands. Although this cup upholds to Starbuck’s usual winter-like themes there has still been controversy surrounding the design, yet this time it revolves around the racial and possible sexual inclusion.

The holiday season is meant to be a joyful time despite what holiday one may be celebrating, but some seem to forget this undefining joy as the days draw nearer to one of the most mainstream holidays of the year, Christmas. Now, Christmas is a holiday celebrated primarily by Christians all over the world. It can be celebrated for the spreading of cheer and coming together of family or for its religious aspects, and then there are some who celebrate Christmas without its religious facets who celebrate the holiday simple to celebrate it. However, there are times when the holiday can become too much, especially for those that do not celebrate the holiday.

“I think that Christmas is really stressful,” senior Roberto Ibarra said, “but I like it cause it is the one time of the year that I can really cherish the family I have.”

This time of the year represents a multitude of holidays, many that people of various cultures and religions have never heard of all because the spotlight has been cast upon a single holiday year after year. Yet in the recent years there has been improvements in the showcase of additional winter holidays, but that still doesn’t seem to be enough as diversity in this season is still heavily lacking.

“Other holidays are not accurately represented,” senior Ivory Ford said. “Some aren’t even represented at all during the holiday season. The other religions that are shown aren’t even to the same extent that Christmas is shown.”

The portrayal of Christmas as the main holiday throughout the season is not seen, to some, as a problem that we as a society should worry about, but when it comes to moving aside Christmas in hopes of sharing the spotlight for other holidays why does it cause an uproar among some, mostly, Christmas celebrators?

Much like the mentioned “Starbucks Cup Crisis” there are many Christmas celebrators that see even the slightest inclusion of other holidays as “war on Christmas.” Yet they also can be the very same people who go around wishing a ‘Happy Holidays’ and attempting to speak on behalf of other holidays that they blatantly ignore and practically sweep under their rugs.

There are so many other holidays of different cultures that people celebrate and the erasing of the diversity of the season, especially in America, is a huge problem that many simply ignore. There could be so much more to the holiday season if we included other holidays rather than keeping the media and population focused on one holiday throughout the season.