The Lens, a newsletter that spotlights Social Justice and Racial Equity Initiatives in Iowa City. Recent highlights:
Inclusive Holiday Celebrations
The day after Thanksgiving (and sometimes earlier), stores are filled with an extravaganza of “holiday” decorations, wrapping supplies, and gift suggestions. But the only holiday usually represented is Christmas, with perhaps a small number of Hanukkah cards and blue paper tucked in a corner. Did you know many people celebrate other winter holidays? Here are a few:
Hanukkah, the Jewish “Festival of Lights”
According to ReformJudaism.org, Hanukkah originated when Antiochus IV outlawed Judaism and ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple in Jerusalem in 167 BCE, which provoked a large-scale revolt. After two years of fighting, Judah, the Jewish leader, was successful in overthrowing the monarchy. The Temple was liberated, but only enough sacred oil remained to light the lamps for one night. Despite this, the lamps miraculously burned for eight nights. Hanukkah celebrates this event. Jewish people light a Menorah, a special nine-armed candleholder, using the central candle to light one more candle each night, until all are lit, to commemorate the miracle. (Some use oil lamps instead.) Food, games, and gifts complete the modern American celebration. Hanukkah is based upon the lunar calendar, so its date changes every year. In 2020, Hanukkah began on Dec. 10 and ended on Dec, 18, 2020. If you have Jewish friends, wish them “Hanukkah sameach,” or “Happy Hanukkah.”
Kwanzaa
According to the official Kwanzaa website, Professor and author Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 to provide a secular, African American alternative to existing holidays. A major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 70s, Karenga wanted to create an opportunity for celebration of Black history and culture. Kwanzaa honors the seven principles of African Heritage, which Karenga developed. They are: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Families decorate for Kwanzaa with Kente cloth and fresh fruit, as Kwanzaa loosely stands for “first fruits of the harvest.” Celebrations include music, artistic performances, discussions of the principles, gifts, lighting of candles, and a feast. Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26, 2020 through January 1, 2021. Greet celebrants with “Joyous Kwanzaa."
Winter Solstice
According to the Farmers Almanac, Winter Solstice, which occurs on Dec. 21, 2020, is the shortest day and longest night of the year, when the season officially turns from fall to winter. People have celebrated the solstice for thousands of years, as it represents the rebirth of the sun; from then on, the days become longer and the nights shorter. Thus, it is an ancient pagan holiday known for rituals and traditions that celebrate the sun, nature, and setting one’s intentions for the coming season. Many traditions incorporated into modern Christmas were originally solstice celebrations. The word “yule” comes from an old Norse word meaning “wheel," symbolizing the turning of the seasons. Yule logs are a solstice tradition; a bit of the old log is saved to start next year’s fire. Decorated trees and wreaths are also features, although pagan celebrants are more likely to decorate living trees outside. Solstice celebrations feature feasting, gifts, and expressions of caring for loved ones and the community. Donating and volunteering are encouraged, as is any activity that contributes to a healthy environment. Finally, the sun’s return is celebrated in the form of bright and cheerful lighting. Wish celebrants a “Blessed Yule.”
Las Posadas
The word “posadas” means “inn” or “shelter” in Spanish. According to Britannica, Las Posadas is widely celebrated throughout Latin America and increasingly in the United States, and began in the 1500s as a Christian appropriation of Aztec solstice celebrations honoring the god Huitzilopochtli. In this celebration, the Bible story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for a place to stay is reenacted. A procession ends at a different home each night, where a special song is sung. The song is a duet, with people outside singing the parts asking for shelter, and those inside denying it until they finally relent. Inside, a short religious service is followed by feasting, most often on tamales, drinks, and pinatas for the children. Las Posadas is celebrated for nine nights, from Dec. 16 through Dec. 24. On each night, a different quality is highlighted: humility, strength, detachment, charity, trust, justice, purity, joy, and generosity. Wish celebrants a “Feliz Navidad” or “Merry Christmas.”
Age Discrimination: The Often-Unnoticed Bias
What is the one thing that unites all humans, no matter our race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion? We all get older. And yet, age discrimination is so entrenched in American culture that it is often not even noticed.
While an HR department today would never think of specifying thinly veiled preferences for employees of a certain race or gender, employment opportunity ads are rife with calls for “innovative” “energetic” applicants with “fresh ideas;” in other words, old fuddy-duddies need not apply. Corporate diversity and inclusion efforts typically focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability status. Assumptions about age, however, often remain unchallenged, and older job seekers are summarily rejected in favor of those who are younger.
In the decade after the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was passed in 1967, between 1,000 and 5,000 complaints were filed in a year; 50 years later, in 2017, the EEOC logged over 18,000 age discrimination complaints, according to the AARP. Women are more likely to file age discrimination complaints than men, and the AARP also reported Black and Asian workers filed age discrimination complaints in 2017 at double the rate of filing in 1990.
While older workers are often stereotyped, employees aged 50 and up can be more engaged with their jobs than younger employees, according to an AARP article.Psychology Today reported that studies also indicate that experience, perspective, and wisdom develop with age, the traits that inform good short- and long-term decision-making. “Institutional memory,” which is knowledge of the history and culture of an organization, especially the reasons behind processes and policies, resides in older employees.
"When Ageism Meets the Other Isms: Recognizing and Respecting the Diversity of Older People" is a five-part webinar series presented by Iowa’s Abuse in Later Life, and the Coordinated Community Response Team. Topics include aging in the communities of Latinos, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and persons with disabilities. Readers are invited to view the series here.
What is the Difference Between Hispanic and Latino/a/x?
Hispanic and Latino are sometimes used as synonyms, but they have distinct meanings. Both terms are important markers of identity for individuals and are used by government and researchers studying a variety of social, political, and economic trends. There are differences in the way the two terms are used in formal contexts and by individuals in a social context.
Hispanic derives from the Latin “Hispania,” which the Romans used to refer to the Iberian peninsula, roughly modern-day Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Hispanic generally refers to people descended from Spanish-speaking populations. Latino is a shortened form of “latinoamericano,” or “Latin American,” which refers to people from or descended from persons from Latin America. Since Spain colonized much of Latin America, however, the terms are often confused—one can be both descended from a Spanish-speaking population and a Latin-American country. Further muddying the waters, in the United States, the terms are often used to denote race, although both encompass people of diverse races and ethnic groups.
Because Hispanic technically refers to language, and language is a part of culture, it is closer to a descriptor of ethnicity than race. However, since people of many ethnicities may identify as Hispanic, it is much broader than ethnicity. For example, a white American, a Black Dominican, and a Mestizo from Mexico may all identify as Hispanic.
While Hispanic refers to language, Latino/a/x refers to geographic origin. Like Hispanic, Latinx does not refer to race, but to anyone from or descended from persons from Central or South America or the Caribbean. Not all Latinxs are Hispanic. People from Brazil, for example, are Latinx, but not Hispanic, as their native language is Portuguese. Similarly, people from Spain are Hispanic, but not Latinx.
Regardless of official definitions, many American Hispanic and Latinx people do, however, consider “Hispanic” or “Latinx” their race. In 2015, the Pew Research Center released a report stating, “[Our] survey of multiracial Americans finds that, for two-thirds of Hispanics, their Hispanic background is a part of their racial background – not something separate. This suggests that Hispanics have a unique view of race that doesn’t necessarily fit within the official U.S. definitions.” The same Pew study further found “69% of young Latino adults ages 18 to 29 say their Latino background is part of their racial background, as does a similar share of those in other age groups, including those 65 and older."
Use of “Hispanic” is more common in the Eastern U.S., while “Latinx” is more common in the West. Outside of official contexts, it is best to refer to individual people as they wish to be identified.
Introduction to Human Rights Commission Member Roger Lusala
Congratulations to Roger Lusala for his recent appointment to the Human Rights Commission. Roger is the President/CEO at MYEP (Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program) in Iowa City. Roger is a Diversity and Inclusion Educator, a Building Strong Organizational Structure, and Leadership Consultant and Educator. His passions include educating on human rights matters including but not limited to the development and presentation of culture diversity courses, communication across cultures, social and racial justice, disabilities advocacy, and LGBTQ advocacy. Born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, he immigrated to the United States in 1992 and speaks multiple languages fluently.
The First Chinese-American Movie Star: Anna May Wong
The first Chinese-American movie star Anna May Wong fought ingrained racism in Hollywood for her entire career. Despite garnering reviews citing her extraordinary acting, she was relegated to supporting and stereotypical roles, playing either the evil “Dragon Lady” or the unassuming “Butterfly.”
Born in 1905, according to the New York Historical Society, Wong began her career at the age of 17. By 19, she was already an international star. She appeared in silent movies, sound movies, TV, radio, and on stage. She was also a fashion icon. In the 1930s, Wong was voted both “World’s Best-Dressed Woman” and “World’s Most Beautiful Chinese Girl.”
Her career was limited, however, by Hollywood’s inability to see a Chinese woman as a leading lady. Time and again, she was cast in supporting roles. Even in movies with an Asian character as female lead, Wong was not cast, due to the Hays Code and anti-miscegenation laws, according to the Historical Society. She could not be seen kissing a White actor, even if that actor was playing an Asian character.
In 1935, Wong desperately wanted the leading role of O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck’s "The Good Earth," a best-selling novel about a family in a small Chinese village that won the Pulitzer Prize. Because a white actor was cast to play O-Lan’s husband, Wong was instead offered the role of Lotus, a cunning seductress who helps ruin the family. As reported by Vanity Fair, Wong met with MGM head of production Irving Thalberg, telling him, "If you let me play O-lan, I will be very glad. But you're asking me—with Chinese blood—to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters." Film historians consider this one of the most notorious cases of casting discrimination in the 1930s. Wong spent a year in China, visiting her extended family, after this setback.
Wong returned to Hollywood and continued to act, making more movies and appearing in television shows. During World War II, she supported Chinese refugees, auctioning her costumes and donating the proceeds from a book preface she wrote and many benefits and appearances. For this work, she was honored by the Chinese Benevolent Association of California. Her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame was one of the first, and she is one of four figures on the Gateway to Hollywood sculpture at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and LaBrea Avenue. Her last film, 1960s "Portrait in Black" starred Lana Turner. Wong died of a heart attack in her sleep in February 1961.
50 Years of Fighting for Farm Workers
Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), was jailed in Dec. 1970, for contempt of court. Several years earlier, according to the Cesar Chavez Foundation, the UFW led farm workers in California in starting the Delano grape strike, which ended in the summer of 1970 when about 25 small grape growers offered better working conditions.
However, this gave the rival Teamsters union an opportunity. The Teamsters mounted their own strike on packing and shipping lettuce, then negotiated with growers to undercut the UFW and gain access to the farm workers. The UFW, which had spent years advocating for and working with the Majority-Latinx workers, was outraged.
Chavez organized a strike and a boycott of lettuce produced by farms that did not support workers. Growers retaliated by firing hundreds of workers and targeting them with violence. Striking workers were beaten and the UFW offices were bombed. Growers also asked the court for an injunction against the boycott, which was granted. When Chavez refused to end the boycott, he was jailed for contempt of court. He was held in solitary confinement, but was nevertheless visited by Coretta Scott King and Ethel Kennedy, widow of Senator Robert Kennedy.
Chavez was released on December 24, 1970. In 1971, the California Supreme Court held that the injunction against the boycott was unconstitutional and overturned his conviction. The strike led directly to the passage of the 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Today, the UFW is the nation’s largest farm workers union. The UFW's website notes its recent accomplishments include “the first state standards in the U.S. to prevent further deaths and illnesses from extreme heat and in 2016 the first law in the country providing farm workers in California with overtime pay after eight hours a day.” Primary issues for the UFW include worker protection, pesticide regulation, and immigration reform.
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