Inflating the number of celebrators of Kwanzaa?

I blogged at Right Wing News this morning about what I believe may be inflated numbers reported by the Associated Press on the number of people who celebrate the so-called ‘alternative to Christmas African American holiday’ Kwanzaa. Make sure to check it out.

4 Responses to "Inflating the number of celebrators of Kwanzaa?"

Pauly says:

December 27, 2005 at 1:54 pm

13 Million? That would be roughly 38% of the US black population according to published data from the 2000 census. I work in Killeen, TX, where the black population is 33.5% of the overall population. (as opposed to 11.5% of the overall US population). The white/black ratio here is 4:3.
An informal survey of several retail locations in the area revealed:
Kwanzaa wishes on banners/storefronts – none

Kwanzaa cards in shops – non-existant

Kwanzaa celebrations, as listed by the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce Website official community calendar- ZIP, zilch, zero, nada

Google searches of “Killeen Kwanzaa” that revealed anything happening to celebrate here – nope, other than one elementary school’s “Multi-cultural reading service project” with some 2nd graders over the holidays teaching them about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas…

Kwanzaa wishes I have seen or heard exchanged – yeah, right.

Certainly, if 38% of the black population in America was celebrating Kwanzaa, out of the 910,000 blacks in Texas that would be celebrating, it’s strange how none of them live in Killeen, TX…
Cobb says:

December 27, 2005 at 6:27 pm

I live in Redondo Beach CA where white kids in elementary school sing Kwanzaa songs in swahili for the annual pageant. Before I read this article, I’ve never even heard of Killeen TX. How about trying Brooklyn or Los Angeles where there’s actual black culture, huh? Jeez. For all we know they don’t even play basketball in Killeen, Texas.
Kevin says:

December 27, 2005 at 7:25 pm

Oh dear! The only places to find black culture in America are SoCal and Brooklyn? Perhaps that lends to the argument that Kwanzaa isn’t black culture Cobb? After all, the majority of blacks live in other places…

Anyway, didn’t the Marxist man who invented Kwanzaa in the 60’s get jailed for stripping and beating womein in the 70’s? Intelligent people would (and do) disassociate themselves from Kwanzaa (example). If you want to create a new holiday from scratch, make it a little more inclusive, and try to minimize the stripping and the beating of people.

Just a thought.
Pauly says:

December 27, 2005 at 10:11 pm

OK, Cobb in Redondo…you’re close enough to Rio Linda, so I may need to explain this to you…
You may never have heard of Killeen, TX- home of Ft. Hood, the largest military training center in the free world, but if you want to compare “Black culture”, maybe you should realize the white/black ratio in Brooklyn (black pop. 36%)is about the same as Killeen – about 4:3. That means for every 4 white people, there are 3 blacks. So, it’s virtually the same.
And since you threw in L.A.(black pop. 11.5%), I might mention the ratio there is only 4:1. So, not a fair comparison…
There actually is quite a strong black “culture” here – not unlike Brooklyn, but far from L.A.
And since the total black population in Redondo Beach is only about 2%, compared to 78% white (39:1), I guess the little white elementary kids singing Kwanzaa songs there must be really proud to be so culturally diverse and sensitive. Does anybody there actually know how to play basketball?

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