Gift-Wrapped for Christmas: A Primer About Heritage
John Flórez     [Photo]

My big brother Rey was a double dipper. He celebrated his birthday twice — once on his actual U.S. birth date, Nov. 8, and again on Jan. 6, El Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day, or The Day of the Wisemen), when by religious tradition in my parents’ native Mexico, presents are also exchanged.

Needless to say, I was jealous. He got two shots at getting presents and I only had one.

Following custom, my parents named their children after saints. My brother's "real name" was Rey, or King in English. He claimed that El Día de los Reyes as a second day to celebrate his birth. I was named after San Juan (St. John), but could never pull off the same scam.

In our home, the retained custom was to start celebrating the holy season on Dec. 12 with the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (the patron saint of Mexico), Las Posadas (re-enactment of the holy family trying to find shelter) and culminating with El Día de Los Reyes on Jan. 6.

That's when my brother cashed in on another birthday present.

By the time the holy season was over, the straggly tree in our home had turned brittle brown. With a potbelly stove constantly heating the room, it's a wonder we survived. Instead of sugarplums, we dreamed of tamales, capirotada (a bread pudding with cinnamon, cheese and raisins) and buñuelos (freshly fried dough strips coated with powdered sugar or syrup).

Years ago, my youngest child invited me speak to her second-grade classmates, to tell them how her grandparents observed the holidays. After I described how Mexican families celebrated Christmas and Three Kings Day, her classmates quickly figured out how they could do a little double dipping of their own.

One by one, they started talking about their own heritage — Greek, Russian,
Scandinavian — and how their immigrant grandparents celebrated the holy season.

They all spoke in animated terms about their own family’s heritage. I suspect some went home proud, with a better sense of their roots — as well as with a new scam.

I was again reminded of the value of double dipping when a young Mexican intern from South Texas told me, "I have two strikes against me because I'm Mexican and speak Spanish." To which I replied, "No, mijito (no, my son), you have two things in your favor. You are richer because you can communicate in two languages and enjoy two cultures."

How unfortunate that some of us believe that we have to choose one culture over another, that to embrace one is to betray another.

Not so.

It's not either/or. We should take pride in both.

I first learned the importance of roots growing up as the only child of color in my kindergarten class. In unpleasant ways, I was constantly made aware of my being "different" by an insensitive teacher.

Fortunately, I could go home and get my cultural batteries recharged. My mother would tell me stories about the richness of our Mexican heritage, the Aztec Calendar, the great pyramids, Moctezuma, Cuauhtémoc, "el árbol de la Noche Triste" — Cortez’s tree of the night of sorrow — and so much more cultural lore.

While our children develop individual styles and qualities that make them unique as they experience life in new environments, never sell short the importance of their roots, those refined traditions that undergird every family’s tree.

There are plentiful cultural options to choose from. My double-dipping brother had it right.

(John Flórez, a resident of Salt Lake City, writes a weekly column for The Deseret News in that city. He has founded several Hispanic civil rights and cultural organizations. Flórez may be reached by e-mail at jdflorez@comcast.net)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
12/04/05
END