School Winter Programs

Re “A Holiday for All,” Dec. 14:

I appreciate the Los Angeles Unified School District’s effort to replace Christmas pageants with winter programs and holiday celebrations. If Sara DeVito Hardman, a Pat Robertson’s political spokeswoman, thinks that it’s sad and that “Christmas is such a beautiful thing,” well so are Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other cultural events celebrated during this time of the year. The tyranny and monopoly of Christmas does not belong in public schools.

Especially despicable is the after-Christmas custom of going around the classroom and asking children what they got for Christmas. I had to make something up or be ostracized. My third-grade teacher actually had the gall to ask the children to bring in a toy they got for Christmas. Faking that was very difficult and degrading for me. The children figured out that the old, worn-out doll that I brought in wasn’t given to me as a Christmas present.

Most humiliating were being forced to participate in Christmas pageants, help set up Nativity scenes, and sing holy Christmas songs even when they violated my beliefs. Not singing meant failing music and bad cooperation grades on my report cards, not an acceptable alternative for me. I remember how the non-Christian children would mouth the words during parts of the songs which were particularly sensitive.

To be sure, non-Christian children were a minority at the school I attended between kindergarten and the eighth-grade, but the faculty and staff knew they were there. Yet, Christmas decorations and “Merry Christmases” ruled. Never was a Hanukkah menorah seen or discussed. No Jewish child was ever wished a “Happy Hanukkah.” While Christmas was rammed down our throats, no time was spent learning about other cultures or religions. Worse, the policy of Christmas exclusivity did nothing to teach positive values such as tolerance and respect for each other’s differences.

Hardman and other members of Pat Robertson’s coalition believe Christmas pageants are memorable. I agree. For me, they were as memorable as nightmares.

My thanks to the students of Bellagio Road Newcomer School for pointing out that it’s crazy for anyone to want to come down a chimney. Now that I thought about it for a second, it is a ridiculous way to enter a home. Besides, there are too many children who don’t have fireplaces in their homes. They must feel terribly left out.

ROSA ROSENBERG

Los Angeles