America as Multi-Culture

Some people are intent on calling America a "multi-culture", a country without outstanding or unifying cultural features, something more like a patchwork of various languages and customs. Diversity is touted as an end in itself. Multi-culture is an ideal perhaps, but not an actuality or even a possibility. America does have a common language, English, and certain manners of dress and behavior that are adopted by the various communities that settle here.
American popular culture is recognized worldwide as something distinctive (a patchwork wouldn't be). An example of this - American styled Christmas is popular in Japan, the content  being derived from American movies with a Christmas backdrop. There is American food and music that is considered unique to this land. We do have an American culture and mores both in spite of and because of our diversity. We are multi-racial, a melting pot, but still more of a "uni-culture" than a multi-culture.
Periods in our history have found different meanings in the melting pot and made different decisions about how to best make it all come together. Multi-culture seems to emphasize division, and when it comes to "inclusion", it's unfocused regarding what everyone is supposed to be included in. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a tradition or festival that happens to originate in a heritage other than one's own. That's what we do in the melting pot.
 The phrase "Merry Christmas" doesn't have to correlate with the denigration of other holidays. We don't have to be primed to take offence when we are the recipients of well-wishing. There are many examples of non- Christians who have not only made important contributions to Christmas, but have been open about celebrating some aspect of it. Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow and Mel Torme are a few. In the hills of El Cerrito, California, a sprawling nativity scene was set up every December and was a viewing tradition for many years until the owner, an old Muslim man who immigrated here, died a few years ago.
A newspaper story told how he considered it to be his gift to this country because he was so grateful to be living here. Public signs of religion and colored lights are common in India, and Indian restaurant often put up Christmas decorations here. Domestic Indian newspapers refer to Christmas as a time marker quite freely. Last December, an Indonesian restaurant in San Francisco had a video playing of a star singing carols and Christmas pop tunes with subtitles. My favorite Vietnamese restaurant always has a Christmas tree.

It would be unrealistic to think that everyone is going to observe the same holidays all the time, almost as unrealistic a plan as multi-culture. But it's a precept of living in this country to at least respect other's observances without trying to tear them down. When I come upon a holiday that isn't particularly meaningful to me, I don't grumble about it. I figure there are people who do observe it and that's fine with me. Columbus Day is an example. I'm not Italian - did he really discover America? Yet walking through San Francisco's North Beach, I see posters about a parade commemorating the holiday and I'm glad people feel they have something to celebrate out in the open as a community. I think we can all learn to feel this way about Christmas again.

As a living union of past and present, Christmas has been able to absorb current needs and ideas and has persisted through many challenges and eras, molding our culture along the way. The Puritan ban of it in the seventeenth century bears some similarity to our holidayization era with it's new kind of puritanism and it's new formula for purging. Through it all, Christmas has alway managed to keep it's name in the public arena. If we're going to discuss multi-culture, diversity and inclusion, Christmas is unique among December holidays because it's a living model incorporating these ideas. It reflects the interplay of countless immigrant customs. The varying versions of American Christmas are all the more elaborate for the kaleidoscope of cultural traditions. It has blended with symbols and customs throughout history and across all borders.