For those who don't know much about Kwanzaa, Swanky Conservative has a fun post, which asks some good questions:
This holiday doesn’t make sense. I see a celebration started by a convicted torturer and radical that proliferated and became legitimized out of liberal white guilt. That may sound harsh, but if there is a need for an Afro-centric holiday, is this one the one to use? Should a celebration started by a convict and 60’s radical be that holiday?
Plus there’s the issue of it being celebrated at the same time as Chanukkah and Christmas, both holidays steeped in religious history. This piggybacking lends a religious legitimacy that’s unfounded given the explanation of the holiday.
I’m also curious as to the meaning of the two ears of maize used to celebrate Kwanzaa. I didn’t know that the continent of Africa was a place one could find maize. Wasn’t maize a New World crop?
No wonder people say Kwanzaa is a made up holiday. Well, I didn't know that Kwanzaa actually was considered a holiday, but some people must think it is. Or want it to be. Otherwise, why would it be on a postage stamp? (Make that two; they've now issued a second official Kwanzaa stamp.)
Does anyone know how many people celebrate Kwanzaa? According to this poll, it's 2%. But such a figure -- 6 million Americans (or approximately 14% of black Americans) -- seems awfully large to me considering Kwanzaa's invention in 1966.
Many people are not impressed at all by the complaint that Kwanzaa is made up, and they'll point to stuff like Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. I see their point. But I wonder how many of Kwanzaa's followers or defenders know that the guy who founded it is another in a long line of government-glorified Marxists, or how many have read this account of the circumstances underlying his 1971 conviction:
On May 9, 1970 he initiated the torture session that led to his imprisonment. The torture session was described in the L.A. Times on May 14, 1971. "The victims said they were living at Karenga’s home when Karenga accused them of trying to kill him by placing crystals in his food and water and in various areas of his house. When they denied it, allegedly they were beaten with an electrical cord and a hot soldering iron was put in Miss Davis’ mouth and against her face. Police were told that one of Miss Jones’ toes was placed in a small vise, which then was tightened by the men and one woman. The following day Karenga told the women that ‘Vietnamese torture is nothing compared to what I know." Miss Tamao put detergent in their mouths; Smith turned a water hose full force on their faces, and Karenga, holding a gun, threatened to shoot both of them. The victims Deborah Jones and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothing."
Ouch!
Making up a religion is one thing, but stuff like that really hurts.
And much as I hate having to be fair to a guy like Moon (whom I've criticizedrepeatedlyinfra), despite all the criticism I've never about him doing stuff like that to his followers.
I don't think Karenga can blame the era either. The early 70s were pretty wild, but I lived through it, and I can assure my readers that antics like those described above simply were not standard fare. Even the Satanists I knew didn't have rites like that.
The imagery is more evocative of, say, the Church of Saddam Hussein.
posted by Eric on 12.21.04 at 03:37 PM
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» Kwanzaarific from Swanky Conservative
Eric at Classical Values links to a post I wrote last year concerning Kwanzaa. I'm still curious why this holiday is celebrated, given its origins.
According to the US Postal Service's blurb about this year's stamp commemorating Kwanzaa,
... [Read More]
Tracked on December 22, 2004 01:23 PM
» I wonder.... from CounterPundit
So, clearly, the commenter indentifying himself or herself as Swanky Conservative either did not read the Wikipedia entry, or read it and did not understand it. Wouldn't it make sense to actually read something you comment on? Why is that optional am... [Read More]
Tracked on December 22, 2004 03:32 PM
Moon allowed numerous followers to be severely beaten with baseball bats when I was a member of his church. Bo Hi Pak, the former Washington Times publisher, was beaten so badly that he needed what his son described as "open brain surgery." He almost died.
I pointed out that the guy who invented Kwanzaa is a torturer. If the platform here isn't "balanced" enough, please bear in mind that I'm not running a politically correct website. I no more have to provide balance in support of the ideas of convicted torturers than I do for the Unification Church, or Mickey Mouse.
And I think the "balance" argument would have been a bit more persuasive had it provided a similar link to "both sides" of Sun Myung Moon.
Nice retort, Eric. Very well done. I Googled the Wikipedia entry after seeing your post. Balanced, meh. It's apparently balanced to reference George Washington as a slave owner, but Karenga's birth name and criminal past is not mentioned?
And a huge thanks for mentioning Swanky Conservative so prominently!
Actually, the wikipedia entry does mention Karenga's arrest, and also links to another entry on Karenga that also discusses his arrest.
Wikipedia is quite good, and if you are familiar with the process, you are welcome to make changes to the entries as you see fit.
I assume what the poster meant by "balanced," is that the discussion of Kwanzaa's controversial side is balanced by a description of what the event means to believers.
Finally, your readers would be served to read the entire context of the reference to Washington. As one rebuttal to the kind of criticism you have leveled at Kwanzaa, the entry suggests:
"They also note that Kwanzaa does not honor Karenga; he merely originated the holiday. There are holidays honoring far worse, they argue, pointing to the existence of Presidents' Day, a federal holiday set aside to honor, among others, President George Washington, a plantation owner who owned, bought and sold African slaves."
I'm against Kwanzaa. At best, it's a third-rate, made-up, ersatz, "separate and inferior" day to celebrate socialism and further segregate American Negroes, who, even during the Jim Crow era, were already celebrating Christmas equally with the white folks. I don't see what Sung Myung Moon has anything to do with it one way or another. How'd he get in here? And George Washington freed his slaves. I have had it with Political Correctness. I'm against it.
Anyway, Joe Gandelman, Dean Esmay, the Queen of All Evil, Arnold Harris, Paul Burgess, Brannon, Catch 22, Dani, Dave D., Kevin D., and all the rest of us wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Now, don't get "shook", as H. L. "Bill" Richardson would say, but take a look at this post that a comment of mine inspired. Yes, this symbol was used and held sacred in every culture, on every continent, in every age, since prehistory, and can be found in medieval Jewish synagogues.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
Eric,
You are right about Kwanzaa but wrong about Moon. See this link:
http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Talks/Anderson/Anderson-BlackHJN.htm
Moon allowed numerous followers to be severely beaten with baseball bats when I was a member of his church. Bo Hi Pak, the former Washington Times publisher, was beaten so badly that he needed what his son described as "open brain surgery." He almost died.