I ran across this link today on Facebook from a globally minded friend.
“Cecil Ash, Arizona State Lawmaker Proposes Holiday for White People“
I knew it had to be from the Huffington Post which has a keen eye for the absurd and sure enough it even came with a video (but to my disappointment no slideshow).
At first it made me laugh. Then the wheels started turning which I had hoped to put off at least until I’ve had breakfast. My neurons lit up so much that I thought a post was appropriate and here we are.
Getting right to the point, let me tell you I think a Latino Day is a bit silly.
Why?
Well, Latino is a term that encompasses a huge geographical region, not a specific nationality, race, or person who accomplished a lot for “Latinos.” If we were to create a Latino day then would it not be appropriate to also create an Asian day?
Or perhaps it would be more beneficial to select one major contributor such as Cesar Chavez and thus it would be akin to MLK day? Well, maybe not as Cesar Chavez most of his weight only in California, not the nation as a whole.
I also find the Mexicans using “Latino” as an umbrella term to cover their real intent which is to make it a Mexican American day. Como tu sabes, los Mexicanos piensan que Mexico es el rey de America Latina. ¿Entonces es mejor para decir Mexican American day no? Besides, the majority of “Latinos” in the USA are Mexican so let us get right to the point because in all honesty, how many Chileans or Argentinians are in the US?
But putting Mexican bravado aside, let me put myself in the mindset of a Latino American. I might ask myself, why not? There are many of us and we should have a specific day to recognize our contributions?
However, I find that difficult because here in the Bay Area we have all kinds of days for specific immigrant groups. Just off the top of my head we have: Latino Salsa and Latin Jazz Festival, Tet, Chinese New Year Parade, Carnival, Spring Blossom Festival and so on. I would like to see any number of these deemed a Holiday. Let us not forget that we should also request to get off from work!
In fact, the Bay Area which in case you didn’t know used to be Mexico has a Latino Day everyday should you choose to frequent certain neighborhoods.
Perhaps the lawmaker who is proposing this idea is doing so because he/she believes Latinos are in the minority and need the government’s assistance to be recognized. Well, given the demographic trend lately, Mr. Ash who proposed a “White People Day” certainly has a point when he says “I just want them to assure me that when we do become in the minority you’ll have a day for us.”
What I see in this exchange between the Latino and Mr. Ash is an “us vs. them” mentality. I can assure you that just as the textbooks have done with contributions from other “minority” groups, (Women, African-Americans, Gays) the same will happen for Latinos as their numbers continually increase.
As for the “White People Holiday,” I believe Mr. Ash was simply being facetious. If he was serious he should fight fire with fire and call it a “European-American holiday,” and not base it on skin color.
Anyway, I’m all for holidays, and days off of work especially, but neither a Latino-American day or a White People day is going to work. White People have enough holidays already and as soon as Latinos are in the majority the purpose of such a holiday is going to be lost.
After all, as the article mentions, we already have Cinco de Mayo which as every white person knows is Mexican Independence day. 😉 Let’s just take a day of work off for that. Or even better, let’s celebrate what America is really all about which could be “Corporation Day.”
After all, corporations are people too.
PS: Nobody likes Arizona, can Mexico take them back please? Then Mr. Ash’s request might be a bit more valid.
