I don’t really care about holidays. Possibly because I a grump and/or curmudgeon.
At my old job the 9 white old rich white executives that won awards for promoting diversity started an annual Diwali celebration. Possibly because they saw it on the Office.
When I read about it I thought it was a neat. Seemed to be a holiday promoting, at least in part, illumination in the sense of knowledge. A holiday celebrating learning? I can support that. I went to a few Diwali celebrations. I thought to myself that if I was going to celebrate any holiday it would be that.
I also always thought that the Day of the Dead was kind of cool. I never celebrated it but it seemed more like the kind of holiday I could like than Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Then I was told that liking these things was cultural appropriation and I was a monster.
But then I was told by someone else that only white people worry about cultural appropriation and no one else cares. Which can’t be entirely true because one time Jeremy Lin got dreadlocks and a lot of non-white people were mad about it. But it might be mostly true.
It’s tricky.
As you all know because you’re very invested in the Amazing Grace story (such as it is) her first mentor was from Mexico. I keep thinking that I want to do more with that but what I want to avoid is –
- Magical lucha masks
- Aztec human sacrifice stuff
- Anything with drug cartels
Because those things seem a little you know, whatever. Stereotypical I guess. Then I wonder if that’s just me being overly sensitive. Then I wonder if I’m being weird in the first place for even wanting to have something in Mexico for no reason other than to do it. Is that some kind of gross instinct?
I’ve been thinking lately that I wish I knew someone from Russia. Because I have to assume that since the US and Russia have been on unfriendly terms basically my whole life that I have a skewed view. What’s really going on over there? Is having a Russian character be a stoic hardass a stereotype?
I’ve been thinking about a storyline regarding what I think at least some Chinese people believed who came to the US in the 1800s, that if their remains weren’t sent home they’d wander the spirit world forever. Is that not cool?
I worry sometimes about falling into the magical minority person trap.
I’ve said this before, but I’ve come to understand the advice “write what you know” better.
Pointless post complete.
