Putting off getting started on a Monday morning, I actually followed the links all the way to the comments section of the Dartmouth campus newspaper.

Ms. Hernandez and one or two other students with Mexican surnames are offended. They are unable to grasp the fact that this event had nothing at all to do with Cinco de Mayo, Mexican culture or anything else worth getting upset about.

That's the smaller problem. There is a much bigger problem that no one in any of articles addressed: Why did the organizations bother listening to Ms. Hernandez? Why did they not stand up for their event, and for their right to hold it?

There will always be nutcases. The spineless idiots who caved are the ones most deserving of criticism.

So by this mindset, a white, irish hertitage American born and raised student such as myself should be able to object to and in turn, shut down, any and all St. Patricks day festivities scheduled at the school under the guise of offense.
But we all know that wouldn't fly at all.... because, you know... caucasion.

Great point, Sabrina.

Many, many holidays are Americanized/popculturized/borrowed.

Being offended is now the way to have power over a great many people -- if they decide to capitulate.

The self-proclaimed "Mexican-born, United-States-raised, first-generation woman of color" declared in an angry email that "there are various problematic structures and ideologies regarding a Cinco de Mayo-inspired event," according to Campus Reform.

"... various problematic structures and ideologies regarding a Cinco de Mayo-inspired event ..." You really have to go to college to master that kind of verbal coleslaw!

Seems to me that "cultural appropriation" is the in-thing now. I've heard the phrase bandied about more, lately. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more.

The real problem is that at institutions like Dartmouth, the educators and administrators that work there view themselves as preparing the next generation of leadership, where nannying is the most effective solution to many problems. Therefore they cave to this "lady" and many other outrageous demands, because they are a "learning experience" for the kiddies of the Ivies. Yet another reason I'd rather be governed by the first 500 names in the phone book.

Cultural clothing? is this a real thing?

Cultural clothing? is this a real thing?

My alma mater is a party school. Some students wanted to liven up Cesar Chavez Day by donning sombreros and fake moustasches and peasant dresses, etc. and throw a raucous party. I'm thinking sombreros are cultural clothing.

I thought the party idea was lame and unimaginative. The university now posts flyers everywhere reminding people it's offensive. Is there a difference btwn Cinco de Mayo & Cesar Chavez Day?

Taking offense trumps helping heart patients. Got it.

PS "verbal coleslaw" = very funny!

Sabrina nailed it!

I am First Nations. I'd like to take this opportunity to say how offended I am that your people support our tribe by purchasing and wearing our moccasins and jewelry. How dare you white people have the nerve to part with your hard earned money to support cultural initiatives! You have no right to our cultural clothing!

Us minorities are the only ones that matter after all. Reverse racism be damned, I AM OFFENDED!

The world is shot through with people who like to boss people around to no legitimate end and with people who suffer chronic dissatisfaction. Intelligently run institutions do not cater to either type. Ever.

Dang, I had salsa, guacamole, and sour cream for dinner last night. I should probably go flagellate myself.

Some of the parties that frats and sororities host- like the ones where they dress in blackface - ARE legit offensive. I chose to go to a college that didn't have the Greek system because I didn't want to go somewhere where the college was held hostage to the frats' spending power (read Caitlin Flanagan's excellent article "The Dark Power of Fraternities" in The Atlantic).

I find it interesting that Dartmouth can deal with this but can't deal with the alarmingly high number of sexual and physical assaults on its campus every year. Hmmmm.

"...various problematic structures and ideologies regarding a Cinco de Mayo-inspired event...."

Because the 5th of May is such an important day in Mexico? Oh wait, it's a relatively minor national holiday there. Public schools nationwide are closed, but it's only an official holiday in Puebla (site of the battle the holiday commemorates) and in Veracruz. It's actually a bigger event in the US than it is in Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the 1862 victory of the outnumbered Mexican army over the invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. While the Mexicans won the battle, they eventually lost the war and came under the dominion of the French - until 1866 when persistent guerrilla resistance and pressure from the US forced Napoleon III to withdraw his support for his puppet emperor, Maximilian, who fell to Benito Juarez in 1867.

Some argue that, had his forces won at Puebla, Napoleon III would have used Mexico as a base to aid the Confederacy in the US Civil War and gain diplomatic leverage in the Americas. Maybe that's why it's a bigger deal in the US than in Mexico.

==============================

By the way, "fiesta" means "party" in Spanish (not just in Mexico). So, how is a fraternity having a "phiesta" specifically an insult to Mexican-Americans?

If they had served tapas and sherry...?

I'm offended by the frat party with virgin 'ritas.

Well, if me drinking a margarita or three and having some chicken enchiladas is "cultural appropriation" from the culture Ms. Hernandez calls hers, then I'd like to demand that she stop appropriating the culture I call mine. As an "American-born, American-raised, second-generation man of paleness", I'm dreadfully offended that she would use telephones, the internet, airplanes, electric lights, television, anything with a transistor in it, anything made of nylon, or live in a constitutional republic, or engage in any other shameless exploitations of my culture. Just thinking about that exploitation makes me want to go have a hissy fit... guess I'd fit right in at Dartmouth.

A photo of a child in a kimono set off a storm of Indignant comments today, people really railing about cultural appropriation, on 'Humans of New York's FB page. It's ridiculous. Why are some people SO alarmed by people being perfectly comfortable in each other's traditional dress? If neither aggression nor malice are involved, is it really evil? It looks to me like people getting along,and it strikes me as racist when whites appoint themselves as the kimono or sari police on the behalf of the Japanese and Indians.

Why are some people SO alarmed by people being perfectly comfortable in each other's traditional dress?

It's social sanctioned aggression.

How is it aggression, to wear a kimono to a cherry blossom festival?

Following this logic, only Japanese should be admitted to cherry blossom festivals, only the Irish should wear green on 3/17, my home town's annual Greek church festival should not be open to the public. While people who think like you think your riding in to save the day, think of how utterly divisive this is...

"Many, many holidays are Americanized/popculturized/borrowed. " In fact, to a considerable extent, that's the very essence of American culture. We go down other countries' dark alleys looking for culture to steal.

And is it just me, or has the phrase "woman of color" become the all-purpose phrase that excuses absolutely anything the person claiming it wants?