When it comes to the holidays, everyone has their own preconceptions and associations. Most connect the holidays with family, quality time, and gratitude. This is all completely valid and those of who are privileged enough to associate the holidays with these attributes should be gracious. However, it is also important to note that not all people are able to connect the holidays with such positivity.
For those who are less privileged and less unfortunate, the holidays act as a reminder of lack of wealth, family, and overall support. These families do not have large Thanksgiving dinners, or numerous presents underneath a thriving Christmas tree. They do not celebrate all eight nights of Hanukah because they cannot afford to. Because of these obvious disadvantages, some more privileged families are celebrating the holidays in a different way. Instead of sitting down at a long table covered in Thanksgiving comfort foods, families are spending the day at soup kitchens serving and connecting with those that do not often get large, bountiful meals. Families are also celebrating Christmas and Hanukah differently in terms of gift giving. Some recommend that instead of “Santa” giving iPads and iPhones, the parents should be giving these gifts. This takes away the notion that “Santa” gives children with better-off parents bigger and better gifts. With this, children who are not able to receive large and expensive gifts because of their parent’s socioeconomic status do not feel so inclined to ask why “Santa” gave someone else a new bicycle while they got a cheaper or more practical gift. When it comes to Hanukah, this problem is somewhat less apparent because children know that the gifts are coming from their parents. Again though, younger kids may still wonder why someone else got a more extravagant gift then them. Of course, these are not the only holidays where gift-giving is standard, but they are the most well-known.
Socioeconomic status is not the only thing that should come into play when thinking of the holidays though. There is also the issue of where these holidays originated and what it means that we still celebrate them. Thanksgiving, for example, essentially ignores the genocide of an entire native people and replaces the history of what these people had gone through with turkey legs and stuffing. It completely ignores history, so much so that people seem to look over the fact that turkey was not even eaten at the “first Thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is not the only holiday guilty of this though. The history of Christmas is also widely ignored. Christmas was originally a Roman creation that had nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth at all. Instead, “each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman” (SimpleToRemember). Not very jolly, is it? Today, the holiday is a capitalist breeding ground of greed and gluttony, but I suppose all things change with time.
So, when you are celebrating during this holiday season, remember those that are less fortunate than you. Not all are able to welcome this time of year with open arms and cheer, and some do not recognize these holidays at all because of their past, and sometimes present. Recognize your own privilege if you are celebrating, though. My one hope is that the recognition of these few holidays pasts and what they mean for other people will encourage you to celebrate them with true gratitude and awareness. Be thankful for what you have but be aware of what others do not.