“I think that there’s definitely more of an emphasis on Christmas,” Amelia Stern, a Berkeley High School junior who identifies as Jewish and celebrates Hanukkah, said, “(but) I do think Berkeley High (School) for sure tries to be inclusive. And I think they are for the most part, but I think it’s also just very focused on Christmas.”
As winter draws closer, talk of Christmas increases and colorful decorations begin to appear around the city. Walking around BHS, it’s common to hear mentions of Christmas, along with other December holidays. But although BHS tries to be inclusive, not every student feels completely included during the ‘holiday season.’
“I don’t usually feel as included because a lot of people are talking about Christmas. I’ve been asked a lot, ‘what do you have on your Christmas list?’ And I kind of have to go into an explanation, like, I don’t really celebrate Christmas,” Maria Radja, a BHS sophomore who identifies as Muslim, said, “Everybody is kind of having this universal experience … and it can be hard seeing that and not really feeling included in all of that.”
Menashe Kirsch, a sophomore at BHS who identifies as a modern Orthodox Jew and celebrates Hanukkah, described a different experience during the winter holiday season.
“During the holiday season, like winter, I don’t really feel excluded,” he said, “I don't really hear my friends talking about Christmas or how they're excited, and even if they were, I wouldn't really feel that excluded.”
In the background of all the student talk, the BHS Associated Student Body spends this time of year working on holiday decorations that get put up around school, including the cafeteria and the C Gallery. There are paper snowflakes, lights, banners celebrating multiple holidays, menorahs, kinaras, and a mini Christmas tree.
“Usually, especially the C Gallery, we try to have more inclusivity. The holiday meal is mostly Christmas-themed, so I think it would be cool to get more lights and hang up decorations for Hanukkah or other different holidays,” Cole Geurtsen, Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability and BHS senior, said. The cafeteria, where the holiday meal is held, mostly has Christmas decorations. “I think we've done a good job of being inclusive in the past, but we just want to keep up that tone,” Guertsen said.
However, some students point out that even though BHS may put up Hannukah decorations or touch on other holidays during the winter, it ignores important celebrations in different months.
“(Hanukkah) has less of a religious significance than a lot of other holidays,” Nevo Naftalin-Kelman, a BHS senior who identifies as Jewish, said, adding that the holidays he finds most important are Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and Yom Kippur. “(Hanukkah’s) just seen as the Jewish Christmas,” Naftalin-Kelman said.
“In a way, even just the focus on Hanukkah is kind of ethnocentric, or centered around Christianity, since that's the one Jewish holiday that happens at the same time as Christmas, not because it's the one Jewish holiday that’s a very big part of the Jewish identity,” Jordan Kehat, a BHS sophomore who identifies as Jewish, said, “We (in Berkeley) definitely pride ourselves on being incredibly inclusive, on talking about all cultures, but really it's talked about when it's convenient. And I think the fact that if we were going to talk about Jewish culture, the only time we will talk about it is the one holiday that's just the same time as Christmas, I think just goes to show how it is just slightly performative.”
Kirsch added that he’s heard some inclusive vocabulary surrounding some activities, such as “Secret Santa” being relabeled “Secret Snowflake,” but feels that this is a surface-level effort and is still commemorating Christmas regardless.
“It kind of sounds fun, but I don't think I'll be participating ... I don't really want to make cards out saying like, Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays,” Kirsch said, “I feel like it's just a little weird, and I don't feel like I'm missing out.”
The holidays considered the most important in Islam, Ramadan and Eid, also tend to not be celebrated around the wintertime (as they run on the lunar calendar, so they occur at a different time every year), and are also not as talked about or decorated for.
“A lot of people, I feel, don't realize or know about (Ramadan or Eid) unless they have friends who are Muslim,” Anastasya Gamarra, a BHS freshman who identifies as Muslim, said, adding that she often gets odd reactions when people realize she’s fasting during Ramadan. “People are confused and concerned at the same time. They're like, ‘what? You don't eat or drink? Oh, I could never do that.’ It feels more like you're getting shamed in a type of way, or judged for the different practices that you're doing," Gamarra said.
Another popular holiday based on the lunar calendar, which generally falls in late winter, is the Lunar New Year. As a cultural holiday that spans multiple countries and religions, it’s celebrated by around a quarter of the global population, including millions of Asian Americans.
“There's a lot of people (in the Bay Area) celebrating Lunar New Year, and a lot of people in general decorating their houses ... (at BHS) I don't really see that, to be honest. When it was Lunar New Year, it just felt like a normal day,” Stephanie Huynh, a BHS sophomore that celebrates the holiday, said. She’s glad her Mandarin teacher often does activities for Lunar New Year, but notes that there’s probably a lot of kids that celebrate that aren’t in Mandarin classes. “On the Bulletin this year they had a Lunar New Year thing (that the AP Mandarin class made) that was cool to see, because last year they didn't have that,” Huynh said.
One thing that non-Christian holidays tend to have in common is that, unlike Christmas, they’re not official school breaks. Although absences for religious or cultural holidays can be excused, students still have to make up for the work they missed in class. Sometimes, students can also miss important school events, like when this year’s Spirit Week was scheduled during Rosh Hashanah.
“When (Eid is) on a school day, most Muslim kids would skip school that day or not show up. And I've just noticed that there's been a lot of quizzes and stuff planned that day. And I feel like every year, there's always something big that I've missed on that day,” Radja said, “Last year, I think there was a field trip on Ramadan, and it was very draining because I couldn't eat.”
Although these are not official school days off, some teachers have special policies if a student misses class during one of those times. “One of my teachers ... if you're missing school for a religious holiday, then she excuses your work — because we don't have work on Christian holidays, or school (on) Christian holidays. So she just thinks it's fair to do that,” Stern said.
Kelly Boylan, a history teacher, has had this policy since almost as long as she’s been teaching. “If you’re gone for a religious holiday I don’t think you should have to make up the work, those are important occasions and I want to respect people’s faith and their time with their family,” Boylan said.
Another winter holiday that is celebrated by some people in Berkeley is the seven-day celebration of Kwanzaa, an African American tradition that originated during the Black Power movement as a Pan-Africanism celebration.
Asha Sweeney Banks, a BHS junior who celebrates Kwanzaa, said she often tries to explain it to people by comparing it to Hanukkah. “There’s a candle holder, and like other holidays you spend it with your family, and kids get presents. A lot of it is about unifying Black people overall, mostly African American people, but also around the diaspora,” she said.
“It would be nice to tell more people what Kwanzaa was about,” Sweeney Banks said, “and especially more African American people, so that they could also celebrate it ... at school I've seen a couple things, but definitely not as much as Christmas. But also that's just because, based on numbers, not as many (people celebrate Kwanzaa).” Indeed, due to the fact that so many people in Berkeley celebrate Christmas, it can seem more like just a secular American celebration instead of one reserved exclusively for Christians.
“I think just because of how much it's been put into the world — like, there's always ads about it, there's so many movies about it — Christmas is just tied to winter time,” Gamarra said, “It's just been commercialized so much that everyone just celebrates it now, like it's a normal thing.”
This phenomenon can even affect the feeling of inclusivity or exclusivity around the holiday. “It just feels almost secular, so I guess seeing all those decorations doesn’t really make me feel like I'm not included,” Naftalin-Kelman said.
Whether Christmas feels Christian or not, most agree that more awareness about other holidays — both ones during the winter and ones at other times of year — is never a bad thing.
“People don't tend to know a lot about other religions ... So I guess more education around that would be nice, just considering the fact that Berkeley is a very diverse place,” Kehat said.
Real and physical representation is important as well, and decoration can be a big way to do that.
“Everyone's kind of stressed out for finals, and we (at ASB) think it's just important to sort of like, cheer people up,” Geurtsen said, “A big part of that is making sure everyone has that festive spirit, and to make sure that no one's being excluded from this very diverse community we have.”