Would you like some cheese with your whine?

Oh man, when is she going to get back to talking about smut?

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I just can't let this go. This is the effect that race discussions and extreme pro-lifers have on my brain. The thread on race, romance and publishing at Dear Author has degenrated into a who's black and who's not and who's allowed to say what bitchfest. I see that Jane has had to close the comments. Too bad, but you knew that would happen. Monica Jackson, is abrasive, judgmental and rather sanctimonious, and unfortunately it obscures the point that she is trying to make, which has both merit and truth to it. Oh well, what really interests me is the effect of the niche type marketing on romance readers and writers of all hues.

But I can't resist having some fun with this anonymous comment from one of the threads at Karen Scott's blog:

Anonymous said...

What I want to know is when here in the US are we going to have Austrian history month? Italian history month? Swedish history month? Welsh history month? White people may all have white skin, but our history is surely just as interesting as African history, yes?

Oh man, I love it when Whitey whines about the "special treatment" black folks get. Why no white history month? Why do they get Kwanzaa? Waaahh...My ancestors didn't own slaves, it's not my fault, waaaaahh...puh-leeze.

The above comment reminds me of when you're little and you say, "Mom, there's Mother's Day and there's Father's Day, why isn't there any Kid's Day?" And Mom would say every day is Kid's Day. Not that every day is White People Day, but there are plenty of holidays/festivals/events etc. which celebrate American history. Black History Month is one of these. BHM celebrates African-American History and the contributions made by African-Americans. Anonymous, it doesn't really involve African history, although I suppose that if you went to Africa there would be celebrations of particular countries' histories. Ditto for Austria and Italy.

What I am saying is that if you are an American, African-American history is part of your history. I am of Italian and Irish extraction, my grandparents and their families passed through Ellis Island around the time of the Great Depression. So no, my family did not own slaves, during the time of African slavery in America they were picking potatoes and sharing their shacks with the livestock. So we weren't part of slavery . By the same token, my ancestors weren't around at the birth of the country either. But would I say, "No, I'm not going to learn about or celebrate the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving, because it's not my people. They were Protestants from England and I hear they didn't like Irish Catholics too much." I am an American, the history of the US is my history. That includes a lot of different groups and events. It is up to me and every other American to embrace and learn about what their history and culture entails.

But since Anon asked, shall we take a moment to see what other Ethnic American Celebrations we can enjoy?

[Click on post title for full post]

We'll start with the easy ones:

March 17: St. Patrick's Day (Irish-American)--Wear your green or fisherman's sweater and Drink up!
March 19: St Joseph's Day (a saint's feast day celebrated by a lot of Italian-Americans)--Wear red and gorge yourself on sfuzzi and zeppole. Wash it down with wine if you've recovered from St.Patty's.
October: Columbus Day (Italian-Americans)--have a boring parade and try not to think of what we did to the Native Americans.
September 15-October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month--Why did they choose to straddle two months? Who cares, eat up!
April: Asian and Pacific Islander-American month--Try a new cuisine (You can tell that I'm Italian-American, because all of my ideas for celebrating holidays revolve around food)

Some more obscure ones (from Ask Professor Holiday):

February 4: Kosciuszko Day (Polish-American)--Tell offensive jokes and eat some pierogies.
March 29: Swedish Colonial Day (Swedish-American, celebrated in DE)--Go to IKEA!
March 31: Cesar Chavez Day (Mexican-American, celebrated in CA)--Don't eat all day!
September 17: Steuben Day (German-American): Wear Lederhosen! Drink more beer!
June: Puerto-Rican Day: have your own parade! Watch West Side Story! Call people Mami and Papi!

So there you go, anonymous. Plenty of Ethnic cheer for all (though you've got me on the Welsh there). I'm a children's librarian. We live for this shit. We've got a book display ready for every event and occasion. You should see what we did for National Soup Month in January (Come to think of it, no one was bothered by soup getting special attention). Seriously, though, if you or anyone else is offended, do me a favor and drop me a line. I'm chomping at the bit for a fight.