Dear White People/Queridos Gringos: You Want Our Culture But You Don’t Want Us – Stop Colonizing The Day Of The Dead
Posted: October 31, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 1,024 Comments
Let me begin by saying it is completely natural that you would find yourself attracted to The Day of The Dead. This indigenous holiday from Mexico celebrates the loving connection between the living and our departed loved ones that is so deeply missing in Western culture. Who wouldn’t feel moved by intricately and lovingly built altars, beautifully painted skull faces, waterfalls of marigold flowers, fragrant sweet breads and delicious meals for those whom we miss sharing our earthly lives. I understand. Many cultures from around the world celebrate these things, and many of them at this time of year. As a woman whose Latin@ heritage is Puerto Rican, I have grown up in California, seeing this ritual all my life and feeling the ancestral kinship to this reverent, prayerful honoring of the departed.
Let me continue by saying that it is completely natural that you would want to participate in celebrating The Day of The Dead. You, like all human beings, have lineage, ancestors, departed family members. You have skulls under the skin of your own faces, bones beneath your flesh. Like all mortals, you seek ways to understand death, to befriend it, and celebrate it in the context of celebrating life and love.
I understand.
And in the tradition of indigenous peoples, Chican@ and Mexican-American communities have not told you not to come, not to join, not to celebrate your dead alongside them. In the tradition of indigenous peoples and of ceremony, you, in your own grief and missing your loved ones have not been turned away. You arrived at the Dia De Los Muertos ceremony shipwrecked, a refugee from a culture that suppresses grief, hides death, banishes it, celebrates it only in the most morbid ways—horror movies, violent television—death is dehumanized, without loving connection, without ceremony. You arrived at El Dia De Los Muertos like a Pilgrim, starving, unequal to survival in the land of grief, and the indigenous ceremonies fed you and took you in and revived you and made a place for you at the table.
And what have you done?
Like the Pilgrims, you have begun to take over, to gentrify and colonize this holiday for yourselves. I was shocked this year to find Day of the Dead events in my native Oakland Bay Area not only that were not organized by Chican@s or Mexican@s or Latin@s, but events with zero Latin@ artists participating, involved, consulted, paid, recognized, acknowledged, prayed with.
Certain announcements of some of this year’s celebrations conjured visions of hipsters drinking special holiday microbrews and listening to live music by white bands and eating white food in calavera facepaint and broken trails of marigolds. Don’t bother to build an altar because your celebration is an altar of death, a ceremony of killing culture by appropriation. Do you really not know how to sit at the table? To say thank you? To be a gracious guest?
This year, as midterm elections near and “immigration reform” gets bandied about on the lips of politicians, urban young white voters will wear skull faces and watch puppets with dancing skeleton bones, and party and drink and celebrate. But those same revelers will not think for a single second of deaths of Latin@s trying to cross a militarized border to escape from the deaths caused by NAFTA and CAFTA and US foreign policy and drug policies and dirty wars in Mexico and Central America. Amidst the celebration, there will be no thought for femicide in Juarez, for murdered and missing Indigenous women in North America. As they drink and dance in white-organized and dominated Dia De Los Muertos celebrations without a thought for us, except perhaps the cleaning or custodial staff that will clean up after them, we Latin@s learn what we learned in 1492 about the invaders: you want the golden treasures of our culture, but you don’t want us. Since then, white people have shown that they don’t value indigenous life, but are fascinated by indigenous spirituality.
Not all white people feel this way. Thank you to those of you who speak up against this. Thank you to all who boycott these events, support Latin@/Chican@/Mexican@-led events, hire our community’s artists, and hold the tradition with reverence. For those of you who haven’t been doing so, it’s not too late to start. Challenge white people who attempt to appropriate. Boycott their events and be noisy about it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to participate in this deeply human holiday, there’s something wrong with wanting to colonize.
And the urge to colonization is born when your own land and resources have been taken over by the greedy and your cultures have been bankrupted. Halloween has a rich history as an indigenous European holiday that celebrated many of the same themes as Day of the Dead, but you have let it be taken over by Wal-Mart. Now it’s about plastic decorations and cheap polyester costumes and young women having permission to wear sexy clothes without being slut-shamed and kids bingeing on candy. November first finds piles of plastic and synthetic junk headed to the landfill to litter the earth. You have abandoned Halloween, left it laying in the street like a trampled fright wig from the dollar store. Take back your holiday. Take back your own indigenous culture. Fight to reclaim your own spirituality.
Please. Stop colonizing ours.
Was Aztlan an idyllic paradise before European colonization of the Americas? Pre-Columbian era of “idyllic” Aztlan (before the white man): the indigenous peoples had their own practices of slavery and human sacrifice (ritual homicide), which were not the same as the Abrahamic monotheistic (Hebrew, Islam, & Christian) sacrifice traditions from the middle east (e.g. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, and Jesus). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture
Aztlán WAS an idyllic paradise before European colonization… because it’s a place of legend. If you mean “the Aztec empire”, yes, they did have some nasty traditions, like every culture ever. Mind you, there are MANY similarities between these sacrifices and Abramic ones (it is a holy rite, it was done for divine blessing, many sacrificial subjects were volunteers, the list (which you can find more to by reading the wiki article you posted) goes on).
This article is a request to shame the dumbing down of a positive, meaningful and honorable holiday, and is only marginally related to your attack on the indigenous Mexican population’s culture. If you think that European culture overtaking the American or that we are better off forgetting rich ancestral traditions and spiritual history, then you have a lot of learning to do. You could start by actually reading what you linked.
Thank you for instruction us, RYAN. I appreciate you. You mention that perhaps I “have a lot of learning to do”. I agree. I am still learning. One thing I am learning was enunciated August 22, 1947 by American jazz singer, Nat King Cole, and released the next year on March 29th. He recites the words of eden ahbez that the greatest thing [i/we] will ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return
Reblogged this on Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess.
I am a white middle-aged Pagan “witch.” Most white folks in the US are Christian, and to them, Samhain (pronounced Soween or Sowan) is “evil,” and “the devil’s holiday.” They have been brainwashed by colonizations past (think Roman conquest of Pagan Europe and Britannia). Pagans do not believe in a devil, and Samhain is our new year. We embrace our old holidays and rituals. Meanwhile, these “appropriating” Christians are not afraid of your holiday, because it is seen as a cultural celebration, while their own cultural heritage (pardon the pun) scares the hell out of them. I have no problem with celebrating your holiday, and sharing mine, with you. In fact, our traditions have a lot in common. But you are right, El Dia de los Muertos should be presided over by indigenous/Latino peoples. I fully support you in that. But please drop the gringo terminology in expressing your outrage. It is an ugly word that doesn’t belong in such an important discussion.
I agree with witchywomyn–I don’t have to appropriate the Day of the Dead because I have Samhain. It’s been appropriated enough! In the long run, I see people incorporating the iconography because the two holidays are close together. People in the pagan world reference the Day of the Dead out of respect for a tradition that parallels our own. We often mention it at Samhain celebrations because we have Mexican-related people coming to our celebration (which is Celtic)–we use it as a bridge to make people feel at home. We do not pretend that one is the same as the other, we just like to acknowledge that they are similar and close on the calendar.
If I celebrate the Day of the Dead, it will be as an outsider with the Latinos and Latinas that share this day as part of their heritage, as part of THEIR culture. My Irish day of the dead is Halloween. As for my personal day of the dead, I’m not certain, but I’m sure I won’t remember it.
Pagan, at it’s roots, is an ancient Roman insult, used by soldiers as they traveled throughout the kingdom, to describe those lowly backwards dirt farmers they spent all their time marching past.
It was basically the Roman word for “red neck”.
Over time, people noticed that these red necks also worshiped their own, false gods, and as such, the word pagan went from redneck, to “people that are going to hell for not being christian”.
This means that pretty much every non Abrahamic religion falls under this umbrella.
Native Americans? Pagan.
Vikings? Pagan.
Buddhists? Pagan.
Shinto? Pagan.
Hindu? Pagan.
Likewise, many of these pagan religions also had their own versions of devils, from the Oni in Japan, to what ever you called the guys that whipped people in Tartarus, there are devils all over the pagan religions of the world.
Just because you’ve appropriated an ancient roman insult for yourself, doesn’t mean you should just apply your own definition on everybody.
The anger, the outrage and the mass generalization of white people is both lazy and something I thought you fought against. Putting people in boxes, no matter what their color, lacks original effort on your part, Aya. As a European mutt of Scottish, Italian, German and American Indian (Eastern Idaho tribe) Bay Area native woman in Oakland, it’s always interesting to see how casually the hostility appears when your ( and your kids) pale hair and skin color are not deemed acceptable here. In fact, the open hostility is encouraged by many in Oakland. As annoying as that is, there are much bigger injustices in the world than having my kids bullied due to their skin color. We love Oakland too much to move and this is the only home my children have ever known. I would consider moving to a whiter community a much bigger annoyance.
As I plan to attend an Oktoberfest celebration this weekend, I think back to my German relative who stood up to the Nazis and hid British airmen at her farm to keep them safe during WW2. Yes! Not all Germans were Nazi’s, or Nazi supporters, surprise! ( yet another fact they don’t teach in US history classes.) I also look forward to my family celebrating other events surrounding our blended heritage. It’s interesting that the public schools that my children attend are rich in the year round education and celebration of African American History, while similar content regarding Latino, Asian, American Indian and other cultures is noticeably absent.
So Aya, enjoy your holiday. I will not be one of those white hipsters daring to attend any of the local Day of the Dead events. I know it’s shocking and not PC, but many of us white folk actually have some of our own heritage to celebrate. Not all of it is centered around the killing of indigenous populations! We will have great beer at our event too. We will even welcome people of non-German heritage! Black and Latino hipsters welcome!
Thank you for reading and taking time to comment. I do have a question: did you read the whole post? I am really surprised at your reaction, because I actually thanked white people who don’t appropriate. It’s a serious question: did you not read the whole post, or was my explicit distinction between white people who do and don’t choose to appropriate POC holidays not enough clarification for you? I am particularly curious because you say I have done a mass generalization about white people, but I was very clear about which white people I was criticizing and which ones I was appreciating. Here’s what I wrote: “Not all white people feel this way. Thank you to those of you who speak up against this. Thank you to all who boycott these events, support Latin@/Chican@/Mexican@-led events, hire our community’s artists, and hold the tradition with reverence. For those of you who haven’t been doing so, it’s not too late to start. Challenge white people who attempt to appropriate. Boycott their events and be noisy about it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to participate in this deeply human holiday, there’s something wrong with wanting to colonize.” This is where I am truly scratching my head. I’m not sure if people just read the first few paragraphs of the post and then comment, or if some white people can’t tolerate any criticism of the racism of any white people.I am also thinking it’s possible that the criticism about race is so disregulating that people can’t take in the distinction if it happens later in a piece. Would I need to start with a bold disclaimer “I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT ALL WHITE PEOPLE” in order not to have this problem repeatedly. i know online conversations can be snarky, but I am hoping for real dialogue here, because I feel frustrated when people comment on my posts by criticizing something that I explicitly addressed…
I cannot speak on behalf of Chris (the poster above), but I actually had the same feelings as he did towards your categorization of “white people.”(which we spanish people are too… we are white even though Americans don’t like to think so). I did read the entire article and was a little perplexed by your need to continually say “white people” when you post seemed to be directed towards non- ” Latin@/Chican@/Mexican@” people. Something that seems to be exemplified by the person in the foto that you have chosen. Therefore to me, that continued wording of “white people” appears to be a lazy categorization of people, something rather unfortunate in an articule focused on race (I mean this word in the in the sociocultural aspect) and cultural heritage. So even though you later say “Not all white people feel this way..” you still continue to attack one specific group… as opposed to everyone who partakes in the appropriation. That is why it is offensive to me.
Además me parece curioso que hayas decidido empezar el articulo con “Dear White People/Queridos Gringos” cuando el termino “gringo” es bastante xenófobo. En España decimos “guiri” pero el signification es lo mismo… es una manera de insultar a los extranjeros. ¿Me puedes explicar el porque utilizaste ese termino? Porque me parece una falta de education enorme empezar una conversación insultando a los demás con palabras negativas.
Un saludo desde España.
Iñaki
Aya, you’re missing the point. Most people were not upset by your main point (I wasn’t), but by the inherent hypocrisy of your position. I, personally, was amused by the fact that you’re positioning yourself as a member of a culture of which, in fact, you’re not really a member. It appears, for some reason (perhaps because you like the spiritual aspects of the culture?), as if you would like to see yourself as a chicana chrusading against cultural appropriation, but, well… having a parent from Puerto Rico does not make you a chicana, I’m afraid. Any more than my having a parent from Boston makes me a New Yorker. This wouldn’t even be worth mentioning except that you are then using this completely unconnected lineage to attack everyone ELSE’S interest in this holiday – as if somehow you possess ownership of it. The implication is that we’re all cultural tourists when the fact, well… You sort of are, as well.
It bears noting that EVERYONE here has ancestors from somewhere else. You’re hardly in some kind of exclusive club because you do, too. Quick word of advice: You might have better luck getting people to be respectful and humble regarding their place at someone else’s table if you are that way, too.
Do you realize how patronizing that is, too? It’s not your holiday — I don’t appropriate it, but I don’t want your thanks. You should be thanking Mesoamerican people for inviting you.
The irony is, I agree with your basic thesis. It’s just your presumption about other cultures that’s bugged me for months.
It is unfortunate that every time an ethnic neighborhood gets “gentrified” white people immediately get thrown under the bus as if they are the only group coming in and changing things. As a black man even for me it cause one big eye roll. Sometimes it’s true that one group comes in and pushes out another. I saw it very clearly in SF’s Hayes Valley. The black community got kicked up right out of there. It’s a very easy answer to blame “the other”. This OpEd grossly generalizes a complex issue. In Hayes Valley there was no mobilization of the community. No thriving black businesses coming in and giving back to the community. I’m sorry but money moves the world. Other people with money came in and changed things. Is it unfair yes. Should the incoming group show some care and consideration to the group it’s displacing? Of course. But it often isn’t this way and I’m not sure what the answer is but I know what isn’t the answer. As a subculture you can not demand inclusion and acceptance while also simultaneously insisting that the dominant culture at large be kept at bay. The OpEd writer lost me as soon as I realized she was only blaming and insulting. There is no mention of the failure by her own community to mobilize and take responsibility for this event and its meaning to her culture. I read nothing about her canvassing her community and bringing people together to create something. She sat back did nothing and then complained about the outcome. I moved my family to Montreal last year. One difference I notice is everyone sort of maintains their culture and we sort of “visit” each other’s or in my case simply lives integrated without drama. If people don’t want to be inclusive of other cultures they have no business living in a state as diverse as California and certainly not the Bay Area for God’s sake.
Amen
The only thing I see wrong with the article and the comments up until this point is that the intentions were good, but instead there’s so much hatred and animosity going on here. Wake up everyone. We are all different, yet the same. We each have a “culture” that we belong to with unique traditions that sometimes ties in to other cultures. Remove the culture, remove the traditions, remove the skin color, and the only thing left is a human being. We are all made of the same things. Everyone complains about how terrible the world is, how much hatred and violence there is. In the end we all die, why spend our short lives fighting each other? We need to be spending our times loving each other and raising each other up. In the words of Bob Marley:
One Love! One Heart!
Let’s get together and feel all right.
Hear the children cryin’ (One Love!);
Hear the children cryin’ (One Heart!),
Sayin’: give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Sayin’: let’s get together and feel all right. Wo wo-wo wo-wo!
Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);
There is one question I’d really love to ask (One Heart!):
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?
Bob Marley raped and abused many women. Read the lyrics to no women no cry.
I don’t disbelieve your first statement — I don’t know his biography — but where do you get rape from the lyrics of “No Woman No Cry”?
Seeking a Truce on the Use of Marigolds.
I love Autumn here on our extraordinarily multicultural West Coast of the USA. I love the warm harvest decorations, first months of school, excited children planning Halloween costumes, ghostly porch decorations, food drives, altars constructed for ancestors, soccer games, Veteran’s Day events, chocolate, candy, harvest festivals, Posada prints, cornucopias, hay rides, papel picado, chrysanthemums, Burning Man, fall leaf piles, skull and skeleton crafts, Thanksgiving feasts, marigolds, Indian Summer, pumkin patches, Diwali lights and puja, Witches’ Balls, Homecoming parades and dances, haunted houses, corn mazes, neopagan Mabon and Samhain ceremonies, Catholic All Saints’ Day masses, apple harvest, cider pressing, grape stomping, wine making, the harvest moon, the chill in the wind, the return of the rain. This time of year can be hard too. If you are without good shelter, you suffer more from the cold, especially at night. If you work in seasonal agriculture, you may work like hell until work dries up and you have to move. If someone in your family is sick now, the illness may get worse over winter. The nights get long, and if you get a flat or miss your bus you could get stuck in the dark. If you are hungry, there is less free food to pick around town. The dark comes earlier and earlier each evening, and the sun rises later and later each day.
Here Autumn is a time that can be hard culturally also. Some neighbors cannot stand the more gruesome decorations, and others delight in constructing chainsaw massacres or lynchings on front porches. Some families are not comfortable with celebrating Halloween, and are mortified when their school announces a costume party with ghost cupcakes. Some families love celebrating Halloween, and are mortified when the school bans costumes. Some families hand out homemade treats and others nervously throw them away. Some families send out teenagers and adults trick-or-treating until midnight that other families are not keen on seeing at the door, and other families feel melancholy when they set out a beautifully carved pumpkin lit with a candle and do not hear a single knock at the door on Halloween. Some people who did not grow up celebrating Los Dias de los Muertos treat it rather like the way they treat St. Patrick’s Day, and buy plastic decorations from the Oriental Trading Company and get drunk and obnoxious. Others make a feast and retablos and light candles in their homes, wishing they could actually be at Abuelita’s grave with the rest of the family in Mexico. Some people who are not Mexican and have unearned privilege from whiteness and English language and relative economic stability throw what looks like a Halloween party with decorations resembling those of Días de los Muertos , and some Mexican neighbors are deeply insulted and frustrated. Other Mexican neighbors laugh at the gringos and throw a better Días de los Muertos celebration next door and drown out the pop music with a reggaeton DJ and his uncle’s Mariachi band. Some friends who are simultaneously Mexican and white walk out of one of the parties and are accused by some non-white Mexican neighbors who do not know them of appropriating Mexican culture, and they argue, first in English, then in Spanish. The party at a white family’s house pours out the door and winds into a spiral dance on the lawn, and conducts a neopagan Samhain ceremony, then shares cakes and wine. A strict Christian family walks by and warns their children about Satanism. Some Philipino neighbors walk by on their way to an All Saints Day mass.
It is a very small world these days, and we are all quite syncretic, especially in the multicultural USA. Truly, it can be very painful for any of us to see practices we hold dear taken and changed, but I believe what will save the traditions is not gatekeeping, because it is not possible to keep a gate on fluid culture. I believe that wholehearted honest celebration of what we hold dear is the best way to keep our dearest cultural treasures alive and strong, and we must not let fools ruin our joy. I do not put up a tree for Jesus; I put up a tree for Solstice, and a related practice predates Christmas, but why fault people who put up trees for Jesus? I do not color eggs for Jesus; I color eggs to celebrate Spring, and a related practice predates the Passion of Christ, but why fault people who color eggs for Jesus? I am partially of Celtic descent among other things, and I do not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with great enthusiasm, but why fault people of any background dressed in green listening to Irish music and drinking green beer? I am considered white, of European ancestry. I was born and raised in California, studied Spanish in school, and grew up knowing my grandmother fought for farmworker rights with César just as I advocate today. I celebrate Halloween and Samhain and I am influenced by Los Días de los Muertos that I remember from growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I would like to ask if we might have a truce on the use of marigolds.
Mahalo nui loa!
Love every word you spoke in your letter… I feel the same … Thank you for writing it.:)
P.s. My reply was to Charlotte Lumae.. Thank you …Robin Spencer
To be honest I am happy with both the people and the culture.
Its not Samhain its Oíche Shamhna. Samhain just means November in Irish btw. People here cant even get the historical name of the festival right! Halloween is an Irish festival that was brought over here by immigrants and St.Patricks day is a tacky American invention, back in Ireland you weren’t allowed to drink on St.Patricks day because it was a religious holiday and all you did was go to mass. The horrible reality is that America has huge influence on other cultures and in Ireland the government was desperate for cash so we let our culture be hored out and Halloween and St.Pattys day as you say here mean nothing anymore. I agree very much with this article and don’t think its going too far at all. We should all work hard not to let cultures be turned into commodities. It dilutes the culture from any real meaning like Irish festivals really hope the day of the dead doesn’t suffer the same faith.
Thank you for explaining the Irish celelebration of Halloween, and its actual name. This distinction for folks in the US is important, because we already have a fall-harvest celebration, called Thanks Giving Day, as opposed to Halloween. I also agree with you about the US’s goliath dilution of culture, even to the point that folks outside the US refer to US culture as American culture, while Aya posted about a very ancient American practice that has nothing to do with my family’s European heritage. I strongly agree with Aya’s opposition to the dilution of her heritage. Look what we US citizen’s have done with Christmas. Before we know it, Christmas sales will start in September…
Why is it that Jewish people think they get the monopoly on telling other cultures what they think, and then tout out the Holocaust like that means something. Homie your people owned slaves in the states (I am one of those descendants), and you at the end of the day are white even in Europe. So take a fucking seat. You people do not get a monopoly on opinion because of some shit that went down in recent history
No monopoly, but as much of a right as anybody else. And sorting Jews into the “white” bucket is a recent thing. As is including them in “white culture.”
Y’all be the MAIN one chiming in on some shit…
SHHHHHHH….try it for a change ;)
Sorry, no. Somebody unqualified to speak for Day of the Dead asks me to claim Samhain … Nope. If I read arr(og)ant nonsense, I’ll keep responding.
Oh! And as much right to talk about Samhain as someone who identifies as Puerto Rican does to talk about the Day of the Dead.
Like it is super annoying …
Yet somehow, I’m not sorry at all …
Expected nothing less, it is par for the course as far as I am concerned
How does this author know what I think, or don’t think about? We all find commercialization unfortunate sometimes, but how dare the author assume it isn’t ok for “white” people to celebrate without racial quotas at celebrations. Super racist. This is America. All of the cultures of the world are appropriated, commercialized, and “americanized” here. Enjoy the party, create your own definition of culture. You are not “special” because you are fortunate enough to have native dna. You are lucky to have it but don’t shame “white” people who don’t. No one chooses their dna, melanin count, or ancestry. Most would be happy to see their culture bring happiness to new people.
Incidentally, MANY people of latin, carribean, and south American ancestry, are loaded with “white”, European dna….
Guess what? This Gringo’s artwork is represented in the 2015 Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Chupa y no joda!
Hey Aya, do you spend Memorial Day at the cemetery reflecting on and honoring the sacrifice made by fallen soldiers, or do you just take the day off and maybe have a BBQ? How do you celebrate Veterans Day? MLK’s birthday? Alternatively, when someone celebrates Christmas by gift giving and using some of the imagery but is not Christian so does not attend church should they be called out for doing do? Celebrations getting disconnected from their roots is not a white people thing – and it’s not a colonization thing.
Really trying to understand your point here…The comparisons of holidays that you are making? I believe that what Aya is referring to is the disrespect occurring during El Dia de Los Muertos. We honor our departed loved ones but instead I had the displeasure of witnessing an alter for a fish and white females provocatively dressed with their faces painted.
Well let’s take a look at you Aya DeLeon from Puerto Rico. Do you know your own heritage? So you’re probably related to the Spanish invaders who decimated and wiped out the indigenous Taino people of Boriken,”the great land of the valiant and The Lord” You do know who Ponce De Leon is right?
So you’re “ancestry lineage departed family members” were the ones who murdered and spread the disease that literally wiped out an entire people.
Gee how’s that feel pilgrim? Do a litte research before you open your mouth or touch a keyboard,Aya.
Now let’s go with the day of the dead. Yes that is an indigenous ritual. That once again the ancestors of most of the SPANISH speaking Latin@ChicanMecican@ people that celebrate it,tried to eliminate. Yes the Conquistadors weren’t into the Dia de Los Muertos. That’s THEYRE name for it by the way. But after they,the Hispanic Spaniards,no white people for that genocide for you to ridicule and demonize,had populated and colonized they absorbed it. Why are their Catholic aspects of the ritual,Aya? Did the Incas believe in Jesus? You know the Incas the Hispanics pretty much wiped out. Yes. Spaniards are from Hispania. That’s what the Romans called the Iberian Peninsula.
So the majority of the Mexican people who celebrate the Day of the Dead have ancestors who are responsible for colonizing,murdering and wiping out whole civilizations.
What now Aya? Where’s the outrage? Maybe you should write another letter to all Hispanics about pilgrimage and ancestry. Why is Catholicidm do prevalent in Latin@Chican@Mexicsn@ culture? We’re the Mesoametican civilization into the Holy Trinity?
And lastly. Maybe you should also write a letter to Mr Iglesias and tell him he’s a white people. Yeah. He’s the guy who runs the Unity a Council and who is organizing the Dia De Los Muertos this November in Oakland. He’s looking for sponsors and volunteers. You gonna sign up?
You know Aya? Hate is hate. You can make it shiny and politically correct but it’s still hate. You sound just like the Farrakhans and the Metzgers. Guys who hide behind racism with words like separate but equal and purity of race and ancestry. Your ancestors we’re fight there with those “white people”. Actually they were ahead if them when it came to enslaving and murdering indigenous people in the Americas
The Unity Council is trying to do the right thing. Get people to live together.
And while you’re bringing up Juarez and the fact that there are almost 100 murders A DAY there, making it the murder capital of the world. Ask why? The answer is drugs. Then do a search and find out the targeted age group that supports the cartels.
Your generation better figure it out Aya. Playing the blame game and putting the spotlight on our differences is just going to feed more tragic events like Oregon.
You’re pathetic little letter to “white people” just stirs the pot.
And you’re too stupid to know that your ancestors fall into the subject group of who you’re addressing
http://www.unitycouncil.org/dia-de-los-muertos/
Also she never had to cross a border
And dosent know puerto ricans celebrate Dia de los muertos tambien
pal carajo
I am a Puerto Rican married to a Norwegian/German woman whose father called our family ni..ars. I agree 99% with your comments but I think you know where I’m going on the “white” issue. I understand your frustration fully but it does seem to single out a particular group in general. I believe “certain groups” and not “ethnic groups” are at fault for the devaluing of certain cultural festivities and guess what, it mostly happens here in the good ole USA. Go figure. And before any ignoramus tries to tell me to go back to my own country remember that the PR is US owned and those citizens are born as US citizens.
Well said Mike. It can be confusing to this Gringo, because when I was real young, friends, teachers and coaches were Mexican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc, but I had no idea. They were just people who helped me along as a kid. I learned about differences when somebody said they were different from me, and explained why. They introduced me to many foods, music, and, yes, laughter. I still find the differences cool. However, sometimes I’m confused, when someone says their white (Iberian), then someone says their indigenous (Native American), but they are both from Mexico. I know it’s a grey line; I know better. I know to accept and respect everyone. Sometimes, I wish everyone would know this about me, and then I see and hear some real ugly response from a non-hispanic US citizen. I’m repulsed and upset by that, but I just breathe in the next guy’s/girl’s culture, as they want it to be, and everything works out right. Much love to everyone in PR, and everywhere else. Peace.
Well, I must say it’s very big of you to think you are so comprehending at such a young age! The only problem is that you are wrong about most of the things you say. I don’t want to go into it because doubtless you will reject everything I say. Just wrap your mind around this: I enjoy Halloween very much, join in the Gringo customs, and leave the Day of the Dead to those who wish to celebrate it. However, I don’t have any signs to put on my lawn on the night of Halloween that say, “For whites only,” nor have I ever seen a sign that says, “Mexicans only” in the cemeteries of Tucson.
I have no problem refraining from observing Kwanzaa, as I celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. So you can have yours and I will have mind, but the difference is that mine are inclusive and yours are not. And I DID notice that you feel free to tell Gringos to lay off the Day of the Dead on behalf of Mexican Americans although you are not Chicana yourself…
Thanks Aya. I may not agree with all your points, but you made me laugh. And think. One thing that I thought I bought is how educators are introducing my caucasian children to this holiday. They are being brought up to appropriate this from within their local community. How can they be taught to do this in a sensitive manner, one has to wonder? Surely if it becomes part of their life, it is because it has already been appropriated as part of the culture. And the Mexican culture predates European culture in California and is a rich part of their environment. But sadly, in a capitalist society, everything we do seems to be eventually “stolen” in order to be resold and commercialized. It’s a difficult force that we all face; we are victims.
Muchissimas gracias bella dama, con un cara de una calaca, (Much thanks, beautiful lady with face of a skeleton) for starting an interesting conversation (providing backstory for a character in a novel? You are sooo clever enlisting others to do your research and writing for free! Brava! ). When the ancient Greeks wished to exercise a time out, it is said they issued a piece of pottery called an Ostrakon. In America, the children are recorded as having sung:
“Once there lived side by side
Two little maids,
Used to dress just alike,
Hair down in braids,
Blue gingham pinafores,
Stockings of red,
Little blue bonnets
Tied on each pretty head.
When school was over,
Secrets they’d tell,
Whispering to themselves,
Down by the well.
One day a quarrel came,
Hot tears were shed:
“You can’t play in our yard,”
But the other said:
“I don’t want to play in your yard,
I don’t like you anymore,
You’ll be sorry when you see me,
Sliding down our cellar door,
You can’t holler down our rain barrel,
You can’t climb our apple tree,
I don’t want to play in your yard
If you won’t be good to me.”
Next day two little maids
Each other miss,
Quarrels are soon made up,
And sealed with a kiss,
Then hand in hand again,
Happy they go,
Friends all through life to be,
Loving each other so.
Soon school days pass away
Sorrows and bliss
But love remembers yet
That quarrel and kiss,
In sweet dreams of childhood,
We hear this cry:
“You can’t play in our yard,”
And the other reply:
“I don’t want to play in your yard,
I don’t like you anymore,
You’ll be sorry when you see me,
Sliding down our cellar door,
You can’t holler down our rain barrel,
You can’t climb our apple tree,
I don’t want to play in your yard
If you won’t be good to me.” ”
which seems to be VERY similar to what you have invoked here. :)
Written By: Philip Wingate
Music By: H. W. Petrie
Adapted By: Terry Kluytmans
Copyright © 1999 KIDiddles.com
It’s because Day of the Dead was moved from August to October/November by the same people who forced the colonial language Spanish on the locals….
That’s the beauty of liberty: nobody has to listen to you. People will do as they please and you cannot do a thing about it.
Stop being so bossy.
What?
What’s this white people thing?
It’s weird being a white latino
so i cant celebrate this day
Even if my home of puerto rico celebrates it as well?
so how about carnival brujo? No black puerto ricans please
or bomba loiza? No white please, only black
puerto ricans
So white mexicans can’t celebrate it?
I truly wonder where my place in all of this lies. My mother is a Mexican American. Unfortunately, she grew up in a time in which her parents felt the need to assimilate to “American culture” and so many of their Mexican traditions were lost. Now, here I am. I look “white” and my sweet kiddos, who have Mexican blood running through them (but who are blonde and red headed) are left without a tie to such rich history and culture. If I try to learn more and participate in some traditions, I am accused of cultural appropriation. This is all simply because of my outward appearance. I truly, and sincerely struggle with my place. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions for me?
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
All I can tell you is that as an Anglo man of European descent who has studied Spanish, Mexican culture and history, and grew up in the Southwest participating in many traditions from pinatas at parties to Las Posadas, I find there is so much richness and much to learn from Dia de Los Muertos. I am lucky to live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the Day of the Dead is a community-wide event with provocative political messages and a mood of inclusiveness: https://www.facebook.com/events/1647394418852467/
I’m sad to say that I will miss it this year, but I will be in Mexico City, so very interested to see it celebrated in “la tierra natal.”
Anyway, 10 years ago during this time of year my mother passed away after suffering a stroke and Parkinson’s disease for many years. My sister and I (not knowing what the other was doing) both set up altars/ofrendas in our respective homes in Arizona and New Mexico — we both placed candles and photos of our beloved mother with her favorite foods present: enchiladas, a glass of beer, and chocolate. I think we both knew our mother who raised us to appreciate and understand other cultures (especially Mexican and Japanese) would approve and that we hoped we could draw her near to us in this time where life/death so closely overlap in the natural and spiritual worlds.
I continue to light candles with photos of my ancestors nearby, especially my mother, and offer my prayers each year. And this year my father will be on the other side to join her.
My intent is not to colonize, bastardize or offend, but merely contemplate life and loss in the land which has claimed me.
First thing… Dear white people… Wtf
Why don’t you say dear people. That’s racist
While note a new article, I’m happy to see it’s making the runds again this fall season. These are thoughts and ideas worth sharing. Thank you for being such a compelling voice in the conversation!
I hear you.
While not a new article, I’m happy to see it’s making the rounds again this fall season. These are thoughts and ideas worth sharing. Thank you for being such a compelling voice in the conversation!
I hear you.
Dear Brown Woman,
We White people will not continue to be denigrated and insulted by your race of people for things yours and my ancestors did that neither of us had no involvement with and that is history- please move on with your pseudo anger and racism.
We don’t care about the Day of the Dead because in our proud and ancient European heritage we have Halloween, the feast of Sam Hain, and the Harvest which your culture has proudly adopted as well and yet, we don’t don’t write these types of letters chastising your race for it.
Brown Woman, please be aware that your Hispanic culture is also heavily influence by European culture since most people who claim Hispanic ancestry are actually mixed with European, Native Mexican, and Spanish blood. So please stop the racist rhetoric of white people being colonists and that “We don’t want you” because not only are you also a colonist to the New World, but also to California and the United States.
And remember, if “We” didn’t want you then why do we welcome your Brown People into California and the USA and then give your Brown Colonists free education, medical, dental, housing, sanctuary cities, drivers licenses, safety, freedom, and all the Internet access you want so you can continue to bite the hands that feed you?
You can thank your conquerors for being so generous now.
Brown people were there first; no invitation required.
Oh look, a racist white man. What a shocker.
An excellent article Aya! I have lived in the stolen land of Arizona for 30 years and appreciate the glorious cultures of my Latin@ neighbors. I participate as a neighbor and a guest, or merely appreciate the beauty of it. The idea of people ruining it for you hurts my heart. As you point out, as a descendant of Europeans, I have Samhain as my own holiday, and I celebrate it as my connection to my beloved dead.
Dear Aya,
Please stop appropriating Aztec culture if you’re claiming Taino roots. Your “ancestral kinship” is through the white conquistadores so you’re a guest to the celebration as well.
Doesn’t feel nice being told you can’t do something because of your ancestry, does it?
You don’t own the traditions, you’re not part of the culture, and you have no control over who is allowed or not allowed to take part. Get over yourself.
Sincerely,
Una latina con sangre AZTECA
Well said. Respect.
Hallow’een is largely a commercial holiday in the United States. It developed from two separate Catholic celebrations: All Saints and All Souls. To equate a commercial holiday with a religious one displays profound ignorance. (There is a possibility that there is a carryover from what little we know about “Samhain,” though Wicca is almost entirely a fantasy-based invented practice because there are few genuine archeological or written records about Druidic religion (setting aside withered corpses in peat bogs)). Dia de los Muertos is a syncretistic holiday heavily influenced by imported, “colonial” Catholicism; I challenge you to find a celebration that does not involve images of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Catholicism (one of the “origin” forms of Christianity) started with brown people in the Middle East. If you are not a brown person from the Middle East, I strongly suggest you stop appropriating any holiday recognizing death that is not truly indigenous and unaffected by cultural colonization. I imagine there are some rites involving drums somewhere. Cheers and good luck.
No, Aya, sorry, you don’t get to write a piece entitled “Dear White People/Queridos Gringos…” and then turn around and say that you were addressing particular white people; you made a gross generalization in such a way that gave you plausible cover for your own racism and your own cultural appropriation. Dia de Los Muertos is a MEXICAN holiday and as such, the person who should stop celebrating the day before anyone else – and thus lead by example – is you. Just because you have lived in California and probably speak Spanish does not give you an inherent right to celebrate a holiday that isn’t yours. I seriously doubt that you have faced this kind of rejection from many Mexicans because this is a holiday of inclusion not exclusion. It is a holiday that can and should be interpreted and celebrated in different ways because humanity isn’t a monolith; things like holidays mean different thing to different people and that is okay. It’s not necesary for a white person to know the reason behind the face paint because maybe they just want to do it because it looks cool and they want to have a good time with their friends and family. That in and of itself is justification enough; people forming memories and enjoying what little time we do get on this earth is justification enough to celebrate something that brings us joy in a way that brings us joy. With this piece, you have violated the spirit of the holiday that you yourself have appropriated. Next time you want to educate a group of people it would be wise not to use racial epithets and slurs in your “lesson” and follow your own advice.
White People: If you want to celebrate, come on through! Pasadena has a great celebration and we’d be happy for you to join us.
Also, white people, this white guilt thing is getting old; don’t let busy bodies tell you what you can and can’t enjoy or how or how not to enjoy it. Live your life, be humble, help a person in need and enjoy your time any way you damn well please as long you don’t hurt anyone. You want to celebrate Dia de los Muertos then just do it and don’t give a damn what anyone who doesn’t matter says or thinks. Make it your own and do it your way. Mexicans will still have our traditions and you can use our traditions to form new ones of your own because OURS aren’t going away.