Today: The Medford Multicultural Fair, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pear Blossom Park.
Free. Fun. Food. Music. Dancing.
I realize that diversity is a fighting word for some people. Food, music, customs, and language from other countries -- the countries of immigrants to the U.S. -- are spoken of as implied disrespect to "heritage America."
The Multicultural Fair takes the opposite approach. New food, music, customs, and language aren't diluting America. They are building it. It is on display.
The event is oddly patriotic.
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ReplyDeleteGreat! enjoy the day.
Many people who read this blog will remember when we used to have these giant extravaganzas called “World Fairs”, often called “Expos”. Countries from all over the world would come and exhibit their cultural heritage and technological prowess. According to my query, over 2 dozen have been held in the US since 1876. The Alaska-Yukon Exposition was held in Seattle in 1909 and became the campus of the University of Washington campus. The iconic Space Needle in Seattle was built as part of the Century 21 World’s Fair in 1962. Cities hosted these as economic engines and hoping to create a kind of international standing- sort of like the Olympics today.
Many people today might rightly wince at the shameless way indigenous cultures were portrayed and even exploited in the name of amusement and so-called “education” in some of the early fairs. I recall that the 1986 Vancouver fair honored and celebrated the history and cultures of the counties that hosted their exhibits. It wasn’t the exploitative circus of earlier ones I had read about.
I remember being so delighted at learning about other ways of living. It inspired me to travel abroad - and since then, I’ve been fortunate to get to visit, serve and work in over 40 different countries; from 5 star hotels to hovels in rural villages . Each time I feel like an honored guest, learning the nobility of the human spirit and experiencing (mostly) their generous and gracious hospitality.
I feel a degree of shame at the way so much of our country has become so hostile to other countries and cultures and myopically nationalistic. I understand that Trump and his ilk have fomented fear of losing our mythic identity as a white christian nation (lower case intentional). My immediate family is now made up of over 20 different nationalities from Europe, Asia and Latin America; even Mongolia. Turning back the clock to a “Norman Rockwell” image of America seems like a futile and unhealthy goal.
We’ve been here at the Fair before, haven’t we? No issue with John C.’s thoughtful and measured comments, nor with a Multicultural Fair as such. It’s about framing history and culture. Or the other side of the same coin.
ReplyDeleteDiversity is objectionable to many conservatives only when it connotes conformity, as in to a leftist worldview if it reflexively includes an explicit vilification of “heritage America”. Myopic hostility can cut both ways.