THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512220200
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
I am writing to disagree with Kathryn Ingram's letter (Dec. 17 Beacon). Chanukah candles are available at all synagogues everywhere. In Virginia Beach, I have also seen them in several businesses, not necessarily owned by Jewish people. They were also selling menorahs in those stores.
Had the letter stopped there, I could have accepted her lack of knowledge about the area. But to call Chanukah ``eight mini Christmases' and to call for a boycott is a distortion of what the holiday and Judaism are about.
Chanukah is not in the Bible but an historical holiday signifying the eight days the oil lasted in The Eternal Light in The Temple when the Maccabees fought for religious freedom.
I hope the Beacon will choose letters that help to enlighten and not distort our religious ideas, as we still strive for religious freedom and understanding.
Rebecca Segal
Virginia Beach
Blacks important, too
I agree with Mrs. Ingram (Dec. 17 Beacon), retailers should help Jewish-Americans with their celebration of Chanukah, just as they make it easy for all Americans who wish to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Halloween and all of the other holidays. What caught my attention and upsets me the most about her letter to the editor was what she wrote about my people, we Blacks living here in America.
Mrs. Ingram wrote, ``the African-American cultural festival Kwanzaa, which is neither religious nor particularly significant gets its share of publicity.'' Well I will agree that Kwanzaa is not a religious day but Africans were the first people with a religion, all others came later. Whether it was Polytheism or Monotheism both were conceived by Africans. That circumcision that Jews hold so sacred as a part of their culture was done by Africans, oh I forgot Egyptians, thousands of years before the first Jew appeared on the planet. Culturally significant, I'd say African culture is very significant in all cultures.
It's about time that people stop trying to write the contributions of Blacks out of history because we have always been a people of doers. Kwanzaa is a celebration of our culture and I would hope that other ethnic groups would understand that any celebration of one's heritage is deemed significant. Kwanzaa teaches us seven individual principles, but when put together makes one united people. This celebration didn't just start in 1966 but was only adopted by Blacks here in America at that time in history. Kwanzaa, or ``first fruits,'' celebrations has been observed in countries throughout Africa for thousands of years.
Therefore to Mrs. Ingram and others that see the African-American culture as ``not particularly significant,'' check yourself first to see just how much of your history and culture got its origin ``Out of Africa.'' If you don't know Black history please be prudent and keep your comments out of the newspaper. We wouldn't want others to think that the culture African born here in America is insignificant, now would we?
Gregory M. Ellington
Virginia Beach by CNB