No Drum and Fife but Kwanza??!!

[Gumbo4x4]

​

Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day

Grandparents day.


See the difference?



We as a nation have somewhere in time decided to recognize numerous "made up" holidays. We've also chosen largely to ignore many others. Kwanzaa currently occupies the latter category rather than the former. Someday, that may not be the case.




Not that that's even remotely the point

 

[o0quirkygirl0o]

Every single holiday was "created" at some point.

 

[GatorChris]

Meh, that race card is tossed out way too easily. I got accused on this board of racism because I called the leaders of N Korea "goofballs" It was every bit intended to be an insult, but hadn't a damn thing to do with race.


As for Kwanzaa, once again "meh". A lot of people are under the false impression it's a real holiday celebrated in Africa, not a made up holiday "created" by an American. Anyone under that impression would certainly expect to see that in the African pavillian, not the American. Call them ignorant or confused, but the notion is hardly racist.

Yip! I got the same treatment over nothing. It seems to be a common insult to other posters that is allowed to happen repeatedly.

As for Kwanzaa, I'm sure the three people who gather around to hear about it at Epcot would be really disappointed to see it go. Honestly, I've never seen more than just a few kids listening on three different Christmas trips to WDW. But that just matches up. Less than 2% (possibly closer to 1%) of Americans claim to celebrate Kwanzaa.

As for the race-baiters: get a life.

 

[Robo]

Interesting.

(Or maybe not.)

 

[pooch]

Oh Robo!!!! Gotta love it!

 

[disnut8]

I don't really see The Candlelight Processional as teaching how Americans do Christmas. It's the Christmas story and it is beautiful, but there's no talk of traditions or anything like that. I will give you Santa, though. But I will stand by what I said about how we don't really need a storyteller to talk of how we do Christmas here in the states. Most people who visit Epcot already have a pretty good understanding of how that is done. But Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are different stories. Most likely don't know about those. I understand why we have storytellers for those holidays.

Very true - how does one "American" family celebrate Christmas? I use the quotes because some don't consider themselves only Americans but something with another country and then a dash and then American. If there's only three "customs", there are probably thousands more. BUT - the important thing for this time of year is that most Americans celebrate a holiday where the thought of that holiday is the most special thing. And for me? I don't celebrate Christmas at all but I enjoy the spirit of everyone else who does.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Every single holiday was "created" at some point.

Of course. But this particular one has no historical significance. The founders of Burning Man or Comicon could just as easily declare a "holiday" and get the same recognition. My apologies if Kwanzaa is important to you or others. Just pointing out how greatly it differs from Christmas, Thanksgiving, May Day, etc. in that regard.

 

[SuperTink]

Of course. But this particular one has no historical significance.

"Historical" is relative. And apparently Disney thought it significant enough to include.

So be it.

 

[lucas]

Keep 'em both! I will miss the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps.

(And I will miss Off Kilter!)

 

[Dr Gevil]

Glad to see all the Theme Park strategy discussed in this thread....

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Glad to see all the Theme Park strategy discussed in this thread....

Now be fair. This board is labeled Theme Park Attractions and Strategies. I'd say that the storytellers are there to attract guests which would make it an attraction and a topic that is perfectly at home on this board.

 

[smiths02]

I think every person should cringe when they see posts like this. Yet, most responders think "educating" the OP about Kwanzaa is the answer. The OP's statement to move the Kwanzaa element to Africa is based on race, nothing more.

On another Thread, the OP listed the good, the bad, and the ugly of the trip. Guess which descriptor Kwanzaa fell under?

A few weeks ago in a "What not to do at WDW thread," I posted the racial slurs that are directed to my DD (4th-generation American) and other CMs who are Asian-American by WDW guests and the response was two-fold:

- some DISers learned that some WDW guests are racist
- I received an infraction for my post.

I don't think the OP's statements are based on race, nothing more.

The name for the holiday is "Kwanzaa" which is based in the Swahili language. So while the holiday is African-American, it uses language, symbolism, etc. derived from African cultures.

I could see how someone who does not know could be confused about the American nature of the holiday. However, the OP probably should have done a quick wikipedia search before posting a rant about it.

 

[JanaDee]

meh, that race card is tossed out way too easily. I got accused on this board of racism because i called the leaders of n korea "goofballs" it was every bit intended to be an insult, but hadn't a damn thing to do with race.


As for kwanzaa, once again "meh". A lot of people are under the false impression it's a real holiday celebrated in africa, not a made up holiday "created" by an american. Anyone under that impression would certainly expect to see that in the african pavillian, not the american. Call them ignorant or confused, but the notion is hardly racist.

M T E (gotta love board software that doesn't let you use acronyms capitalized)

 

[ghtx]

I was just pointing out we frequently "create" holidays.

All holidays are "created" by people - i.e. none of them spring naturally from the Earth.

ETA Just saw that someone already made this point.

 

[ghtx]

The OP has objections to Kwanzaa that are probably not racist in nature. He objected to the location, not its celebration.

Doubt it

If we're all ready to get our pants in a bunch over race, then why is anyone here even visiting EPCOT? There are NO predominantly black nations represented in EPCOT. Not Morocco - African, yes. Black - no. It is all Arab and Berber. The only way to explore black African heritage in Epcot is to visit a tiny corner in the back of the park, lumping all the African blacks into a gift shop of drums.

This is a good point.

 

[SoScary'09]

Seeing this at the American Adventure pavilion wouldn't seem strange to me. Our middle school used to have Kwanzaa celebrations each year We were allowed time out of class to learn songs and eat and make crafts, so needless to say it was a hit with us kids. And yeah, it's an American holiday.

It was probably unintentional, but seeing this thread title made me cringe.

 

[canoe86]

Where are the mods now? Shouldn't this thread be shut down?

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

All holidays are "created" by people - i.e. none of them spring naturally from the Earth.

Except, of course, for Arbor Day.

 

[JanaDee]

Where are the mods now? Shouldn't this thread be shut down?

Why would it be?

 

[BayouMickey]

All this fuss over a made up holiday that promotes reverse segregation... Political correctness is a dangerous thing....