This past holiday people probably heard the phrase “Merry Christmas” so many times that the words start to lose their meaning. While Christmas is celebrated by most Americans, that doesn’t mean that other holidays don’t exist. Instead of saying “Merry Christmas” next holiday season, a simple substitution of words could help create a more inclusive and considerate environment.
In 2017, 90% of Americans said they celebrate Christmas, according to the Pew Research Center. So one could argue that saying Merry Christmas and assuming that the person does celebrate is a safe bet. This is true, but since the founding of America the other 10% has been for the most part outcast or just ignored altogether. So now that people are starting to be more inclusive, an easy but effective way to do that is by saying “Happy Holidays,” which includes everyone celebrating something this December.
There are only 2% of Americans that identify as some form of Jewish. While this is not a lot, most of this population is concentrated in the metropolitan areas of the East and West coasts. Hence, saying “Merry Christmas” has a higher chance of being wrong. In addition, most diversity occurs around large cities, so in places like these, it is even more essential to take other people’s traditions into account.
While most people either don’t notice or don’t care, the problem is exactly that. When people don’t even bother to entertain the possibility that someone doesn’t celebrate the same thing as themselves, it leads to assumptions and biases. Of course saying “Merry Christmas” is in itself a small thing and it is uncommon for someone to take it personally, it’s the small things like changing our vocabulary that lead to more understanding.
As a Jewish person who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I get told “Merry Christmas” a lot. As I said, it doesn’t bother me; but again and again, the assumption is being made that I am like the majority. Being Jewish is a big part of my self-identity and when it is consistently being erased because of habit, eventually it gets annoying.
Let’s say for a second that the tables were turned and a person said “Happy Hanukkah” instead. It is most likely that people would correct them saying that they don’t celebrate Hanukkah and instead celebrate Christmas. While in the moment the person telling them that, probably doesn’t care, they might feel the need to correct them because it’s important to them. Eventually, after being corrected again and again, they’re just going to switch to Merry Christmas. This is the same thing that happens on the other end; correcting again and again eventually just leads to the acceptance that people are always going to choose the dominant Christian culture and traditions.
It is so easy to make someone feel more included. It’s one extra syllable to acknowledge that someone might be different simply. The holidays are a time for spreading love and appreciating the people around you. What better time to make someone feel seen than the time of joy and miracles? It might not matter to most, but many small steps are just as necessary as a few big ones because some of us are just tired of being ignored.
Written by Margaret McLaughlin of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo by Akiwen Ewimbi of Seneca Valley High School