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With St. Patrick's Day coming soon, I got into an interesting discussion with others on someone else's Facebook page about how people from other cultures/ethnic groups have co-opted another culture's holiday or event.
I have mixed feelings about this, so I like discussions about this, to help me make better sense of it. Let's take St. Patrick's Day for example. Why do non-Irish people celebrate St. Patrick's Day? I think many people have degraded the cultural heritage and significance of St. Patrick's Day as an excuse for rowdiness and drunk behavior. Then you have others who wear plastic, green bowler hats, green costume accessories with flashing lights, and so on which to me, seems to cheapen the meaning of St. Patrick's Day.
Let's take another example. I'm not black, and I never celebrate Kwanzaa. You will never see me insult black people by wearing blackface makeup and celebrate Kwanzaa by going to one bar after another, getting drunk off my ass. That's not how you celebrate Kwanzaa.
Another example is why do atheists celebrate Christmas? Is it because many atheists get caught up in the materialistic/commercial part of the holiday, completely ignoring the REASON for celebrating Christmas? Don't get me wrong - I like gift exchange as part of Christmas because the three wise men had originally brought gifts to Jesus after he was born, and for the general spirit of sharing.
So can others help me make sense of this, in how people of other cultures co-opt another culture/ethnic group's holiday/event for other entirely unrelated reasons to the meaning of the holiday/event?
I have mixed feelings about this, so I like discussions about this, to help me make better sense of it. Let's take St. Patrick's Day for example. Why do non-Irish people celebrate St. Patrick's Day? I think many people have degraded the cultural heritage and significance of St. Patrick's Day as an excuse for rowdiness and drunk behavior. Then you have others who wear plastic, green bowler hats, green costume accessories with flashing lights, and so on which to me, seems to cheapen the meaning of St. Patrick's Day.
Let's take another example. I'm not black, and I never celebrate Kwanzaa. You will never see me insult black people by wearing blackface makeup and celebrate Kwanzaa by going to one bar after another, getting drunk off my ass. That's not how you celebrate Kwanzaa.
Another example is why do atheists celebrate Christmas? Is it because many atheists get caught up in the materialistic/commercial part of the holiday, completely ignoring the REASON for celebrating Christmas? Don't get me wrong - I like gift exchange as part of Christmas because the three wise men had originally brought gifts to Jesus after he was born, and for the general spirit of sharing.
So can others help me make sense of this, in how people of other cultures co-opt another culture/ethnic group's holiday/event for other entirely unrelated reasons to the meaning of the holiday/event?
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