OPINION
Don’t Stir the Melting Pot It is important to celebrate and acknowledge the diversity and cultures that bring us closer together. BY PAULA SWEENY REPORTER
Happy National Italian American Heritage Month! Oh, you didn’t know? I’m not surprised. Most people are so caught up in their own lives and problems that only pertain to them, but it’s important to remember to pay homage to not only our own culture but other ones too. Celebrating culture is a core pillar in our community. Our society is built around the diversity of every single person, and it would be wrong not to celebrate everyone’s differences. Without the celebration of diversity and other cultures, society would be bland. America’s melting pot is a blend of so many other cultures, and that’s what makes it
so unique. American culture is “unique in that it draws from most of the world’s dominant cultures,” according to worldatlas.com Not only is celebrating culture beneficial to honor other cultures but it also allows us to see how these groups are continually oppressed and marginalized. Not taking the time to celebrate this diversity further oppresses their culture and takes away the opportunity to learn about them. There’s a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural celebration. Appropriating is using Native American headdresses to enhance your festival outfit, or naming a football team after a Native American tribe and exploiting their icons, or buying anything from Urban Outfitters’ former Navajothemed brand. Celebrating, on the other hand, allows us to fully remember and honor the things we’ve learned and adapted from these cultures. The most stereotypical American things
you could think of are cowboys, hotdogs and democracy. In reality, all of these things have been borrowed and adapted from other cultures. Cowboys originated out of the Spanish tradition of the vaquero, hotdogs were a take on the German staples, the wiener and frankfurter and democracy dates back to the ancient Greek thinker Cleisthenes. For many people, they aren’t intentionally disregarding it, but growing up, we haven’t been taught to celebrate events like this or acknowledge how important it truly is. These months and many other cultural holidays should be taught in elementary and middle schools so we can learn earlier how important these things are to our culture. So many aspects of our current lifestyles would be lost without the influence of other cultures. We need to do better as individuals and a society to make sure celebrating other cultures and thanking them for their contribution to our world and our society. (Illustrations by Paula Sweeny)
October Italian American Heritage Month
November
February
March
May
September
Native American Heritage Month
African American Heritage Month
Irish American Heritage Month
Asian American Heritage Month
Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month
A Move to Hallo-Weekend Halloween should include a Trick-or-Treating Day on the Saturday before the holiday. BY ABBIE SINOW REPORTER
The tradition of trick-ortreating goes back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain where people would dress up in costumes to keep ghosts away, according to history.com. Pope Gregory III established All Saints Day on Nov. 1, later establishing Oct. 31 as All Hallows Eve and including similar traditions as Samhain. To this day, children go out every year dressed in the costumes to ask for candy. With the historical background attached to the holiday, the official Halloween Day should remain on Oct. 31, with an added celebration day. In 2018, a petition launched by the non-profit Halloween &
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Costume Association on change.org went viral for suggesting to change the date of Halloween from Oct. 31 to the last Saturday in October. Although this would entail less stress for parents of young children, it only supports the celebrations of trickor-treating without recognizing the history behind the holiday. The creators have since changed their stance, editing it in July. The petition does not include changing the holiday anymore, but instead adding an additional Trick-orTreating Day on the Saturday before Halloween. This compromise encourages a less stressful holiday for all ages. This idea encourages a convenient celebration, while also keeping the ties of Halloween to All Saints’ Day on Nov.1 and the meaning behind the holiday. It applies to people of all ages that choose to celebrate Halloween, as they can participate in celebrations lasting late into the night without
worrying about getting up to go to work or school the next day. The revised petition’s motives apply to all generations and sides, as children can stay up late trick-or-treating and teenagers and young adults can celebrate at get-togethers and parties. Parents are also supporting this idea as they don’t have to struggle to wake their children up early the next morning. Not only does it give everyone a
day to celebrate, it also keeps the historical background of the holiday. It offers a compromise for all ages and gives those that wish to celebrate on Oct. 31 the chance to do so. The petition is available to sign on change.org, titled “Join the Saturday Celebration,” and has over 149,000 out of 150,000 signatures, and counting. If added, it will mean a more convenient holiday for everyone, including you. (Photo by MCT Campus)
