Since today, June 19th, is Juneteenth, right in the middle of Pride Month, I decided to think a bit about national holidays and heritage months that are not national, but celebrating something un-national.
Here are the official federal holidays.
New Years Day
Martin Luther King Day
Presidents Day
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus / Indigenous Peoples Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas
Do you see what is missing? Womens Day, although we do have Mothers Day. But Mothers Day is not a holiday.
Then there are the Heritage Months, from the US State Department.
January:
February: Black History Month
March: Women’s History Month
April: Arab American Month
May: Asia Pacific / Jewish American Heritage / Military Appreciation Month
June: Pride Month / Caribbean American Heritage Month /
Immigrant Heritage Month
July:
August:
September: Hispanic Heritage Month
October:
November: National Veterans and Military Families Month
Actually, forget all that: It’s Harvard University that stands at the head of Heritage Month celebrations:
In celebration of the histories and contributions of historically marginalized identities, Harvard commemorates heritage months and identity acknowledgements throughout the year.
Here’s Harvard University’s list of Heritage and Awareness Months.
I think we can tell who Rules here in the US of A. It is gays. Gays have a Pride Month and a History Month. Two for the price of one.
Notice the main difference between the State Department’s list and the Harvard list? There are no military appreciation months in the Harvard calendar.
Of course, there’s a “tell” in the State Department and Harvard celebration of “historically marginalized identities.” And that is the absence of White Trash. Yep, the first boatload of White Trash washed up on the shores of Virginia in 1584, and noboyd can be bothered to celebrate White Trash. “Waste population,” they called them. And they really were, because from about 1500 to 1800 in England and elsewhere, the powers that be just didn’t know what to do with the “useless retainers” that landowners were kicking off their estates in the Autumn of the Agricultural Age. Other then send them off to America. Or Australia.
Of course, the old ethnics of America have their patron saints.
Irish: St. Patrick
Italy: St Francis of Assisi and St Catherine of Siena
England: St George
Scotland: St Andrew
Wales: St David
Germany: St Boniface
France: St Denis and St Joan of Arc
Spain: St James of Compostela
Poland: St. Stanilaus
It’s interesting that the only people that really get to celebrate their patron saint in the US are the Irish and St. Paddy’s Day.
What is obvious is that the national holidays and heritage months are over-representative of the Little Darlings and Mascots of the ruling class.
And it tells you who matters to them. Not you and me.