Finally, the winter holidays are upon us. As we move past Halloween and head towards the end-of-the-year festivities, companies start releasing their anticipated seasonal products, scented like peppermint, eggnog and other classics. Additionally, organizations scheme up ways to package and sell these items to the broadest possible audience, labelled with cute, innocent messages such as “Happy Holidays.”
Well, innocent enough. In 2015, a video went viral of California pastor Joshua Feuerstein yelling in a Starbucks parking lot that his coffee didn’t tell him “Merry Christmas.” The movement spawned by Feuerstein and others’ opposition to the new cup design was so strong, that even then-presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in, suggesting a possible boycott of the coffee company and telling one rally, “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying Merry Christmas again, that I can tell you.”
Of course, this holiday discussion should stretch far beyond Starbucks, or any brand in general. Religious tolerance in general has always been a major struggle in our nation and the rhetoric and actions pointed at religious festivities in particular is no different. In recent years, social media and other resources has made it easier for the groups that have always been fighting for inclusivity to have an even louder voice.
Though some pass off this rise of “PC Culture” as irrelevant, there is point to the whole social movement. For example, the Anti-Defamation League stated that 2017 saw a 60 percent increase in “anti-Semitic incidents” in 2017 from the average, which can certainly be at least partially linked to the rise of more aggressive rhetoric and “fake news” on social media.
Therefore, as these trends continue, campuses like our own may need to review current policies as they relate to “hate speech.” I understand why the university must distinguish between legal and illegal rhetorical actions for the sake of free speech, but we are overdue for an elaboration on what are currently short and vague definitions of serious matters like “harassment” and “defamation.”
Our country’s original purpose was to build a place for all “outcasts,” people who couldn’t live how they wanted under the societies and regimes of their homelands.The same can be said for our campus, like many other public ones. Yes, December is the time for Christmas, but it’s just as much the time for other religious and cultural events like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and many others.
The division and tension of American society that many are talking about isn’t an understatement. Headlines show an animosity growing between groups, and it’s being credited to the fear of different things and a behind-closed-doors agenda to trample on tradition.
This is why inclusive language is more important now than ever before. Many pass it off as unnecessary political correctness, but there is truly a reason behind inclusive dialogue. The Pew Research Center finds that while Christianity is still the dominant national religion, there is a growing presence of other religious communities. Plus, almost a quarter of the nation, notably the younger portion, identify as “unaffiliated.” Even inside the American Christian faith, there are several notably different denominations that hold very different views on the same subject-matter.
Diversity in our nation is higher now more than ever before, and is common on NC State’s campus, where students and faculty could easily lead the charge to further push this new inclusivity if we tried. While shifting your rhetoric to be more inclusive may seem like a small gesture, it can go a long way to strengthen the ideal that our nation was built upon: freedom for all. We must keep this diversity in mind as we interact with others, and be mindful of how our words affect others with different backgrounds.
So when your Starbucks cup is just red, or a friendly face says “Happy Holidays,” they’re not being anti-Christian, or holding to any other phobias. They’re being pro-first amendment, and celebrating the right to celebrate any holiday. With national tension reaching a new high, an all-encompassing, inclusive rhetoric is now becoming a necessity. While it may take a miniscule amount of change on everyone’s end, the benefits far outweigh the effort required.
