Hello! And welcome to Color Outside the Lines, a weekly discussion space for people of color
Thread Rules
- We ask that only those who identify as people of color participate in this discussion. White Avocados, while valued members of this community, should remain in ‘lurk’ mode.
- Shaming and hateful speech are unacceptable.
- Please keep potentially traumatic content safely behind spoiler tags.
- Nobody on this thread is more or less a person of color than anyone else. (We will not set clearly delineated boundaries on who qualifies as a ‘person of color.’ As a starting point, this thread uses the definition of ‘non-European heritage of sufficient prominence to affect one’s navigation of a society built on white normativity.’ However, we recognize that there are identities which skirt either side of the divide. If people feel that they meaningfully experience the identity of being a person of color, then they are welcome to participate.)
Prompt
This coming Monday is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States. The US has a long and fraught history with attempting to implement federal holidays meant to celebrate or acknowledge different races, peoples, and cultures. From the long-standing refusal to nationally recognize the holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. to originally–and in many, many states ongoing–refering to Indigenous People’s Day as “Columbus Day,” in effect celebrating the man who kicked off hundreds of years of violent and devastating oppression towards Indigenous people in North America.
These federal holidays are also wildly different from the cultural or religious holidays you may celebrate with your own family and friends. So, let’s talk about holidays! Are there any holidays you particularly enjoy? How do you feel about federal holidays meant to celebrate different cultures or specific religions? Any holidays you’d rather forget?