Political correctness doesn’t rate high here
We didn’t tell our reader’s Merry Christmas across the top of our front page Tuesday morning. But we didn’t say Happy Holidays either.
That, to the one person who accused us of yielding to the pressure to be politically correct, should have been a clue. We didn’t choose not to say Merry Christmas because it’s a Christian holiday. We chose not to say anything because space is at a premium and we had, some time back, made the decision that our readers probably knew when it was Easter, or Memorial Day or Thanksgiving. So we stopped putting bunny rabbits and turkeys at the top of our front page to remind them.
In fact, we haven’t had a holiday headline across the top of our front page in almost a year. We did say Merry Christmas Southeast Texas (with a small, tasteful wreath) last year and we did say Happy New Year in plain blue type when we rang in 2007. But we didn’t tell anyone Happy Easter, or Happy Fourth of July – or even Happy Thanksgiving this year.
We pulled back from that because we decided we were overdoing it a bit, then we overdid the pulling back. We were going to trim the number of holiday salutes and we trimmed a bit closer than our original intentions. So, we’ll probably tell you Merry Christmas on your front page again next year, but you’ll see fewer holiday greetings than you might have in past years.
That’s not a matter of political correctness, in fact probably the opposite. If we acknowledge Memorial Day, should we also acknowledge Flag Day, Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day? If we do Christmas, should we do Hanukkah, or more appropriately Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah? What about Kwanzaa – or Cinco de Mayo, or more importantly Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day? And how about Chinese New Year? What about Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Grandparents’ Day? If we do Thanksgiving, should we do Valentine’s Day?
And, if we acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. Day, do we do it on his actual birthday (Jan. 15) or the national holiday (Jan. 21 this year)?
We could discuss this at length and spend a lot of time scratching our heads and being concerned about perceptions and political correctness – or we could just worry about the news, putting out a good newspaper, and leave the holiday acknowledgements to the calendar makers.
That, at least this year, is our choice.
That, to the one person who accused us of yielding to the pressure to be politically correct, should have been a clue. We didn’t choose not to say Merry Christmas because it’s a Christian holiday. We chose not to say anything because space is at a premium and we had, some time back, made the decision that our readers probably knew when it was Easter, or Memorial Day or Thanksgiving. So we stopped putting bunny rabbits and turkeys at the top of our front page to remind them.
In fact, we haven’t had a holiday headline across the top of our front page in almost a year. We did say Merry Christmas Southeast Texas (with a small, tasteful wreath) last year and we did say Happy New Year in plain blue type when we rang in 2007. But we didn’t tell anyone Happy Easter, or Happy Fourth of July – or even Happy Thanksgiving this year.
We pulled back from that because we decided we were overdoing it a bit, then we overdid the pulling back. We were going to trim the number of holiday salutes and we trimmed a bit closer than our original intentions. So, we’ll probably tell you Merry Christmas on your front page again next year, but you’ll see fewer holiday greetings than you might have in past years.
That’s not a matter of political correctness, in fact probably the opposite. If we acknowledge Memorial Day, should we also acknowledge Flag Day, Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day? If we do Christmas, should we do Hanukkah, or more appropriately Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah? What about Kwanzaa – or Cinco de Mayo, or more importantly Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day? And how about Chinese New Year? What about Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Grandparents’ Day? If we do Thanksgiving, should we do Valentine’s Day?
And, if we acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. Day, do we do it on his actual birthday (Jan. 15) or the national holiday (Jan. 21 this year)?
We could discuss this at length and spend a lot of time scratching our heads and being concerned about perceptions and political correctness – or we could just worry about the news, putting out a good newspaper, and leave the holiday acknowledgements to the calendar makers.
That, at least this year, is our choice.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 12:41 PM
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