Minnesota School Scrapping Valentine’s Day and All Other “Dominant Holidays”

The celebration of traditional holidays is a way to inculcate our culture to the young, passing it on to the next generation. Therefore, if you want to break down a culture, go after its holidays, and replace them with new celebrations.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Celebrations of Valentine’s Day and the other “dominant holidays” are ending at one St. Paul elementary school, according to a letter from the principal addressed to families. Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School, whose student body is overwhelmingly nonwhite, explained in the letter that “my personal feeling is we need to find a way to honor and engage in holidays that are inclusive of our student population.” St. Paul school kisses Valentine’s Day, other ‘dominant holidays,’ goodbye Paul Walsh, Star Tribune, January 29, 2016

So what holidays does he think would be “inclusive”?

With Valentine’s Day a little more than two weeks away, Masini noted, “I have come to the difficult decision to discontinue the celebration of the dominant holidays until we can come to a better understanding of how the dominant view will suppress someone else’s view.” Masini said there will be no cards or treats brought to school to mark Valentine’s Day.

Sorry kids, no Valentine treats, while your principal figures all this out.

The letter listed the holidays that the East Side school will no longer celebrate as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Masini said the decision was made in consultation with his staff.

All these are traditional American holidays, all with deep roots in our Anglo-Western culture.

“One of the concerns that I have,” Masini wrote, “ … is whether or not this practice is encroaching on the educational opportunities of others and threatening the culture of tolerance and respect for all.”

So how exactly is exchanging Valentine cards and treats an encroachment on education?

“Because Saint Paul Public Schools is a diverse district that is filled with families from around the world we strive to respect all cultures and all students. We recognize that not every student celebrates or participates in some or all holidays. We have a board policy that discourages programs and festivities that celebrate observances unless they are required by law,” a statement from St. Paul schools later Thursday said.

Even in less diverse times, there have always been Americans who didn’t celebrate certain holidays for various reasons. And it wasn’t a big problem. Simply let them opt out of the celebrations and engage in an alternative activity. Why cancel the holiday for everybody else?

The statement included comments from Masini: “I’m struggling with this and I don’t know what the right answer is. But, what I do know is celebrating some holidays and not others is not inclusive of all of the students we serve.”

In case you were wondering about the school district’s demographics…

According to the latest state demographic data, the student body at Bruce Vento school is 52.3 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 35.4 percent black, 6.9 percent Hispanic, 4.3 percent white and 1 percent American Indian/Alaskan Native. More than half the students are learning English as a second language, data show.

Was it really complaints from the student body and parents that caused this, or just educrat-induced PC paranoia? I imagine most of the kids in the school, of whatever background, would enjoy celebrating “dominant holidays”.