Public Schools and Christmas Music: Yes, We Can! Yes, We Should!
The purging of Christmas from the public square, workplace, and shopping center has produced a weird paralysis among those special gatekeepers of culture: public school music teachers. Like deer caught in headlights, some seem unsure which way to proceed. But proceed they must and so they tread cautiously — planning “winter programs” based less on musical merit than on sticking close to safety.
Believe me, I’ve seen my share. With five kids currently in public schools and seven graduates, I figure I’ve sat through at least 50 concerts — and it would have been more if not for some intervening homeschooling years.
In fact it was my first “winter program” after eight years of homeschool that sounded an early alarm: songs of Santa, chimneys, and reindeer, plus three Chanukah and one Kwanzaa — the latter though the school boasted only one Jewish family (non-practicing) and not a single African-American. Ninety musical minutes with nary a note about Jesus.
Of course, I know Christianity will survive whether censored out of public schools or not, but that’s not the point. The obvious question — like the headlight glare — is this: why bend over backwards to acknowledge religious minorities while singling out Christianity for exclusion?
That first year, when I asked the principal why no Christmas carols had been included, she said, “Well, there were — ‘Jingle Bells,’ ‘Jolly Old Saint Nicholas’ …”
“But those aren’t Christmas carols,” I said. “What about the birth of Jesus?”
Deer in headlights.
“You know, I understand we’re trying for multiculturalism,” I suggested gently. “Aren’t we part of the mix?”
While I understand the skittishness behind excluding references to what some of us still call “the reason for the season,” I also know that there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. In 1995, President Clinton — concerned that some educators and community members had incorrectly assumed that schools must be religion-free zones — asked U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley to issue guidelines. The result is a remarkably concise, clear, and sensible document titled “Religious Expression in Public Schools: A Statement of Principles.”
The problem with education and multiculturalism is a lack of balance. I agree with much of what was said here. I see no problem with religious discussion in schools so long as the teacher is not prostelizing to my kids, I have no problem. I am a teacher and I have found that it is impossible to talk about most of the classics without a discussion of religious beliefs. We have to talk about Christian imagery and beliefs or we run the risk of misinterpreting many artist like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, and even multicultural, pc favorites like Maya Angelou, and Sandra Cisneros. I believe in a multicultural education that includes exposure to all cultures including the perceived dominate one. also we should avoid romanticizing or demonizing one group too much. White People are not the root of all evil, and the brown peoples of the world have not always been te victims. This is coming from one of those whom is often referred to as a libtard, product of affirmative action by readers of PJM
. Good article that all teachers need to read. Sorry for the typos. I’m typing from my iPhone.
C: Your bigotry is in full view: “White People are not the root of all evil,” First, we are white Americans. Second, we are not the source of any evil. There are evil people such as Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe, Castro, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, Mao, Pol Pot, etc, Get the picture???
See if this grabs your attention: black people are the root of all black crime in black neighborhoods; black people are the root of 70% black illegitimacy.. So on and so forth. Whereas your statement is patently false mine is unequivocally true.
Next, how can you put of a fake like Angelou in the same sentence as Shakespear, Chaucer and Milton? Are you nuts? Angelou is the quint-essential affirmative action recipient.
“I believe in a multicultural education that includes exposure to all cultures including the perceived dominate one.” There is only one culture here and that is American. Thank you for noticing that white Americans are the dominate ethnicity and obviously culture… Now your inherent racism is showing…
OMG if you really are a teacher. It is all too clear why our kids and nation are suffering.
Christmas is a religious celebration, period. It is not a celebration of seasons or anything else…religious.
We honor other’s holiays/traditions..not America’s own. Personally, I resent it.
America,as we know her, is on her way out…In 100 years America and CHRISTMAS will be a memory.
We cannot stand up against one woman who did not want prayer. Why would we stand up against thousands that only want an excuse for a commercial shoppig season? We’re too busy and caught up in PC to fight back.
America is no longer a nation of strong people. that really scares me for the future of my children.
We are wieners with a sheep mentality as we go along with ‘HAPPY HOLIDAY’…
….SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS..(:0..WHILE WE CAN:(..)TO EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!
How is my bigotry obvious. You obviouy did not read my post closely. I said white people are not the root of all evil. I said brown people are not always the victims. I said that there is room for it all and I even said that I agree that as long as a teacher is not evangelizing in class Christianity should be discussed. I agree with the author for crying outloud and I am accused of bigotry? It just goes to show, people all hear what they want to hear.
For the record. This liberal democrat agrees with the conservative position expressed in this article. If I used the wrong verbage or if I was unintentionly offensive, I apologize. I hope readers will see the intent of my words and see that I was tring to bridge a gap.
Merry Christmas
Something just dawned on me. I read pjm to get another perspective. I write comments hoping for civil discourse with the hope of learning and when appropriate reexamining my own perspective and modifying it as I see fit. I have never accused, attack, or insulted anyone in my posts. I have been foolish. Some people namely blotto are not interested in bridging gaps, but rather sowing seeds of discontent. I believe that you read and understood the intent of my post. I accuse you of obflucation. You want to obscure the issue for your own sad amusement. I retract my previous apology to YOU blotto because he does not deserve it. I extend a hand of friendship and invite civil discourse wit anyone intersted in constructive debate.
I agree with blotto’s post.
I also feel that people try to be so politically correct we have lost ourselves. Angelou and Oprah two of a kind, and no I’m not talking color.
American culture #1. I’m tired of people fleeing an oppressive country, then coming here and trying to make just like the one the are fleeing. American cultue #1. Call me a biggot…I call myself an American who is sick and tired of the PC in my country.
If people coming to this country don’t like Christmas and the way it is celebrated then don’t celebrate it. Or better yet go home to your country of origin and celebrate your own friggin holidays as you please, Back Off and be happy we even allow your ignorant ass to stay. If it were my decision anyone who doesn’t like it here would be happily sent home, there are plenty of people that would legally come here and appreciate America and Americans for giving them the honor of being allowed to celebrate our holidays with us as we see fit. We don’t go over to your countries (and for good reasons) and tell you how to celebrate your holidays. Again Back Off!
So let me get this straight Sallie, we as Americans are all one culture. Please tell me what that culture is. I have lived in delaware, Washington, South Carolina, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Maryland, and new jersey. I can tell you that each of these states have distinct cultures. Yes there is a general overculture, but there are also several sub cultures that are all American.
That spring, she devoted a whole music program to a dramatization of Aztec beliefs and customs. Not a smidge of material for balance — and of course, the Aztec culture was sanitized of the curious custom of infant sacrifice.
LOL. As if there are Christmas carols about the mass murder of the Canaanites. Total bored suburban housewife, looking to get into other people’s business.
Definately we should all be saying Merry Christmas if that’s what we are up to. I’m super fed up with PC. People are dying because of it(FtHood13), people are not knowing the truth in the news and we aren’t hearing hardly a thing about protests in front of these banks where they got the bailout dough. I’d like to hear a whole lot more in the news about the madrassas in Virginia. I don’t get how come the Western World is putting up with people invading their country and hating it and creating more crime and civil unrest? I don’t see why if people are acting like gangsters but they are not gangsters in our cultural colloquial sense, shouldn’t they still be prosecuted like gangsters? Same shit, different day.
And shouldn’t music classes be teaching Real American music like Gershwin, old Negro Spirituals are also part of our history. Whatever part of the country you live in would most likely have it’s own cultural type, like West Texas would have the Spanish/Latino thing, Miami would have the Cuban music influence. It would be really interesting when we listen to the bands during the parades on TV during holiday season. Think about it.
I am happy to report that my kids’ school has a Menorah and a Christams tree! eventhough the principal is a big Obama supporter.
There are a lot of Black Christian conservatives who had to vote for Obama because he is the first Black President, however, these folks are very religious and conservative…Thank God! So I attribute the display to that and everybody is happy!
Last year, the kids sang a Black Hymm that mentioned God and guess what? Nobody complained and it was great. That is the way to get around these Christmas non-sense.
Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends and to all my Christians friends Merry Christmas! To all the atheists: Can we just get along?
Had a minute so thought I would ask a question. You have a problem with Maya Angelou. Just curious, are Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Paul Laurence Dunbar, or Phillis Wheatly acceptable examples of black writers to place on the same level as Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Just curious if it is just Angelou or is it all American writers who happen to be black you have problem with? I notice you had no problem with Sandra Cisneros. Is Gary Soto acceptable as well?
A bigot is person obstinately and unreasonably wedded to a particular religious creed, opinion, or practice or a person who is blindly attached to an opinion, system, or party, and bitterly intolerant of those who believe differently.
You said, “Thank you for noticing that white Americans are the dominate ethnicity and obviously culture… Now your inherent racism is showing…” What inherit racism? I thought racism was the idea that one’s own race is inherently superior. I never said that Blacks were superior. I simple pulled a few writers who are part of several school districts curriculums as example of how understanding Christianity is necessary to understand all of the imagery and symbolism contained within those writer’s works. Mention them in the same sentence because they are in the same textbooks.
I think that people who live in glass houses ought not throw bricks. I looked at some stats myself.
-86% of White victims were killed by whites
-Whites are more likely to kill a family member
-Whites are more likely to commit infanticide
-Whites are more likely to commit eldercide
I found this information at http://ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm. If I look at the stats, I can paint a pretty negative picture. If I misrepresent the facts, I can make them sound worse. I am dismayed by the crime rates inthe Black community. It is amusing that when these stats are used to put Blacks down or in their place, the correlations between poverty and violence is not pointed out. Nor is the idea that if a person is going to commit a violent act, that act will usually be against their own regardless of race.
In our public high school, we weren’t allowed to sing Western sacred music. Instead, we sang a lot of bad, boring music. What’s worse, the “multicultural” music we sang wasn’t really from other cultures; instead it was a sanitized, Dinseyfied impression of what the music of other cultures sounds like, no more authentic than the sound track from The Lion King.
I was so thrilled that college was different. Our music director in college was a total lefty (advocating for MoveOn.org and such during rehearsal announcements), but she did know her music! Though her own research specialty was African music, she introduced us to the best choral music the whole world has to offer — much of it Western sacred music. From medieval and renaissance polyphony, through Bach’s B-minor Mass, through Brahms, Saint-Saens, Poulenc, Barber… (It seems that even atheists often write better music when they choose a sacred theme.) And when we did “multicultural” music in college, it was fun because it was the real deal (nothing Disneyfied for us) and it wasn’t disingenuously emphasized.
Our college director had the sense to not let her agenda interfere with good music. Her choices of music let us fully experience music’s power. I wish our high school teachers had been the same. My high school experience almost turned me off music as a career, the music we were given to sing was so insipid.
Very interesting article. It seems like they just push the multicultural stuff way too far. A few songs to expose us something new, something from another perspective, that’s good and helps prevent a narrow outlook. But the majority of the program should reflect the majority’s viewpoint. This just seems like common sense to me.
And I appreciate C’s civility when under attack. That is all too rare in these comment threads.
Hate PC. Love good old fashioned thinking and common sense.
Wondering why conservatives seem so passionate about having religious celebrations in places that are funded by tax payers, such as public schools, public spaces in our local communities, etc.
I grew up in a time when there were music programs in all public schools. And I sang Christmas carols every year (the real ones, not the Disney channel/Hallmark card ones). The town I grew up in, as the town I now live in, was decorated with lighted Christmas trees. There was a nativity scene on the library lawn. Stores then, as now, played Christmas music. Shops had Christmas decorations. It was magical and beautiful.
The only thing was, and is, I’m Jewish and observed different holidays. And there was literally no room for that. Not that I wanted my holidays celebrated in a public way. But I can attest to how incredibly awkward and strange it was for me to sing songs about Jesus, to have fellow students, teachers, neighbors, wish me “Merry Christmas” and send my family Christmas cards when they knew we were Jewish. It wouldn’t occur to me to send a Jewish New Year’s card to a Christian because that’s not their holiday.
All in all there was a feeling that EVERYONE celebrates Christmas and I gave up counting how many times people said to me in a bewildered sometimes indignant tone: “You mean you don’t have a tree?” “You don’t celebrate Christmas?” Right. Not everyone is Christian.
I share all of this because I think PC rules the day and that is wrong. The pendullum, as it were, has swung too far in the opposite direction. But I also know from personal experience that going back to the way it was before, is not an ideal solution, either.
And as for comments about the artistic caliber of writers or music from various religious and ethnic backgrounds, I would say that anyone who thinks that there does not exist a body of extraordinary artistic work from a whole array of folks in this world has probably not been exposed to what’s out there. Is the music that was written for the Catholic church beyond gorgeous? To my mind, without a doubt. I have a substantial collection of choral music inspired by the church. It’s amazing! But there’s a whole lot more out there that’s also beyond belief in it’s beauty. (I do agree that Maya Angelou is not the great poet/writer she has been made to be, however.)
Ah, enough…..
C @1; I’m late as ever to the conversation, but I do appreciate your post – even if I disagree with a good part of it.Starting with the first sentence.
The problem is not a lack of balance, its a lack of substance. It’s nice to introduce kids to other cultures, but it is more important to have them firmly grounded in the roots of American culture, the strongest of which is that created by those who left European religious, cultural, and economic oppression and whose descendents “brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Understanding these people – not just by tracing their travels but by understanding what drove them, and what sustained them – is the first step to understanding what they created, and why it is important that it “shall not perish from the earth”. From there one can move on to more difficult issues, such as the terrible error of slavery; or broader ones – such as failure of the French Revolution as compared to the American; to the broadest – why America’s original vision is still, for most people, exceptional and will remain so as long as its people can maintain a steady course. As John Winthrop wrote almost 300 years ago (and Reagan quoted from 25 years ago):
BTW, if you teach at, say, the 8th grade level or above, you might want to discuss A Modell of Christian Charity, from which the above quote is taken, with special attetion to the first three Reasons, and perhaps the coda at the end which will give anti-life supporters (and atheists) fits –
From there you can spread out to other interests – such as the European Enlightenment, from which the original American philosophy arose – backwards to its Hellenic and Judaic origins -forwards to the post-modernist corruption. Music (the original subject of the article, sorry Ms. Curtis for the digression!) is a powerful tool for understanding the growth and decay of those traditions; and carols are probably the most accessible musical forms for starting kids on the journey towards understanding what a wonderful gift those who have gone before have left for us.
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Lorita @11 – very much agree, particularly re. the spirituals. And American classical like Aaron Copland (my favourite being his setting of Simple Gifts in Appalachian Spring), based on the traditional Shaker dance song. As for carols, the Huron Carol – in Huron, French, and English is always worth a listen….
Whoops, as a retired math guy I should know better than to do math in my head. Winthrop wrote that almost 400 years ago (1630) not 300….
Hey C: I have no idea where you are going. Therefore, it is impossible to make a cogent response. Your rants are just that-self-serving rants.
But I’ll take a couple points. “I said white people are not the root of all evil.” Again, we are white Americans-not white people. Second, “white anyone” is not the root of all evil, individuals are the root of evil. You cannot see your own bigotry.
“…sowing seeds of discontent.” How many cliches can you come up with? So disagreeing with your progressive channeling is attacking?
“I accuse you of obflucation.” I think you mean obfuscation, and no I am not hiding anything in my comments. I merely responded to your insiped comments.
“…is it all American writers who happen to be black you have problem with?” When any of your named writers can withstand the tests of time as did those of the past then we shall regard them as equal comparisons. But Angelou was a useful puppet for Clinton. Until him, nobody heard of her.
Your last three paras @13 are going nowhere. What do crime stats have to do with the topic?
Lastly, there is only one culture here and that is the American culture. PC and MC induced education has informed you otherwise. And the dominate race is white-a simple observation nothing more but it seems like we are in the minority because of the way the MSM, SCOTUS and pols treat us in their effort to maintain real racial minoriites as Dem. voters.
Christianity is the dominate religion but it is always given short shrift and in fact denigrated by your side and its PC/MC maina. And I am tired of it.
In theory, there is a big difference between outright misrepresentation (as you have rather humorously done with the DoJ statistics) and intellectual shallowness (i.e those who look at the DoJ stats without digging deeper into circumstances like poverty). The two (falsification and idiocy) often overlap – Climategate is a perfect example. But one should also bear in mind what happens when researchers do try to dig deeper – for example, the outrage manufactured in the 90′s over The Bell Curve. The problem with all stats (particularly in the social “sciences” ) is that they look only at broad groupings, and are heavily influenced by our own preconceptions and desired outcomes, and completely ignore the individual and his unique characteristics.
As for great poets, trying to determine whether a poet qualifies as “great” is really more a matter of history than anything else – their greatness doesn’t exist in isolation, but in how deep, broad, and lasting their influence is, which in turn is heavily affected by how successful their culture is over time. But it’s not a simple piggy-back ride for the artists; those that last are those that both reflect and influence their cultures. (I should probably use the term “creative people” rather than “artists”, since not to include people like Newton and Einstein is to miss some of the most important contributors to cultural evolution).
As for the black poets you specifically mention, my own guess (and it is just a guess) is that they probably range in greatness along the same measure as their contemporary white poets, which is at best, minor. Certainly they lack the expressive power of (say) a Whitman, and they seem to reflect the same aesthetic decline found in other contemporary arts (cf painting). (By the early 1900′s, the really bright people who had the courage and interest to break boundaries were investing their efforts in the sciences, not the arts; what remained in the arts has been pretty much reduced to luddism…)
How about the same for English/Lit. My daughter has been exposed to an extreme amount of crap in her Honors English class in the name of diversity and exploration. Stories that none of the kids even enjoyed reading, and these are kids who love to read just about anything. Of course these supposed books are all big book award winners, which tells me the people rating the books have no clue what a good read really is. They have yet to explore a Dickens, Alcott, or Shakespeare piece. Just PC stuff.
Chris @21
Can I reccomend a few books for your possible Christmas shopping list for your daughter? They’re all by Harold Bloom:
The Western Canon
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
How To Read and Why
(you can get them as a group, and hence discounted, through Amazon)
Bloom is a wonderful antidote all that is PC, and he will fill many of those holes left by incompetent instructors – but describing why would take too long for me at the moment. The Amazon review though at “How to read and Why” sums it up neatly, however. His other books are also worth a browse. I particularly liked his work “The Best Poems of the English Language”, and/or the reduced version “The Art of Reading Poetry”.
I have no overall objection to Christian Christmas music so long as it is not mandated by some governmental entity. That seems to be a historic problem, with pundits like Limbaugh & O’Reilly ranting about the non-existent “war on Christmas” (anything to drum up ratings, I suppose).
I also like the secular, generic holiday carols. Too many Christians forget that their religion “borrowed” the concept of the winter solstice & all its celebrations from the pagan European civilizations.
#14 Baroque Soprano: glad you like the choral music. Even though I am not a Christian, I will still enjoy Bach & Handel on Christmas Day & other times during the holiday season.
#19 Blotto: “there is only one culture here and that is the American culture…..” True. But we do have subcultures; just like a committee has subcommittees; and that variety; the “melting pot;” is what makes America great.
Rose: Thank you for your kind words. I hope I have not written anything that has changed your opinion of me…
Halifax: Thank you for giving me something to think about. I don’t agree with everything you said, but you did give me some new ways to approach how I teach literature.
Blotto: Let me respond to some of your points.
1. “We are white Americans-not white people” Last I looked, American were people.
2. “‘White anyone’ is not the root of all evil, individuals are the root of evil.” Let me rephrase. It is important not to portray white people (oops Americans) as the root of all evil. It is also important to not portray non-white people as victims all the time. It minimizes everyone.
3. “I think you mean obfuscation” My bad. I should remember to run spell check and I still think you are guilty.
“Your last three paras @13 are going nowhere. What do crime stats have to do with the topic?” Let me remind you that you are the one who spouted negative numbers. Remember this, “See if this grabs your attention: black people are the root of all black crime in black neighborhoods; black people are the root of 70% black illegitimacy. So on and so forth.”
4. “Christianity is the dominate religion but it is always given short shrift and in fact denigrated by your side and its PC/MC maina. And I am tired of it.” I don’t see it as your side and my side. You have drawn the line in the sand not me.
5. You accuse me of bigotry and racism. That’s interesting because from my perspective, it seems that no person of color has ever contributed anything of substance to this place we call America. Your dismissive attitude regarding writers of color seems all to clear. I would still like to know, are there any literary figures, politicians, scientist, inventors … any figure who happens to be other than a white American worthy of your respect?
To Steve B/ Colorado: this former Coloradoan agrees with your perspective 100%.
Go Broncos!
My last comment. I hope we are able to bring back real Christmas music in schools. As Jewish Girl put it, the pendulum has swung to far left in this case and some much needed levity is due.
F Xmas.
C – I have read and re-read blotto’s points and can’t even figure out what they are. I don’t see how you are a bigot and don’t know where that left-field accusation came from. Whatever. I don’t think it is worth your concern or energy to defend yourself against what seems like a purposeful misunderstanding.
Mary, 9 – Let me understand. You think that including human sacrifice in a study of Aztec culture is the equivalent of including “Canaanite mass murder” on a Christmas card? Did early Christmas celebrations include genocide? How is that related? I’m guessing you mean that in the OT, the LORD had the Israelites drive the Canaanites from their land by killing them and since Christianity came from Judaism and Christmas is seen as a Christian holiday then Christians are connected to Canaanite genocide. So we look the other way for Christianity and Judaism but not for Aztecs. Poor Aztecs, being maligned like that when we westerners have unsavory histories too.
However. If we were teaching on the history of Judaism, perhaps that whole Canaanite issue (not to mention the Jebusites, Hitites, Amorites, etc) would be an important point to cover. But Christmas cards are not intended to instruct in the 1000 years past history of Christ’s birth. They are about the birth itself. This teacher was instructing on Aztec culture and human sacrifice was a central element of Aztec religion. You cannot teach on the Aztecs sufficiently without covering human sacrifice! You can certainly celebrate the birth of Christ without discussing other elements of Jewish history. If you cannot see the difference there then you might want to just hold your tongue.