peting theories will fail due to thernimpossihility of an uniting metaperspectivernand because of the (related)rnnonexistenee of a universalrnlanguage. How to proeeed, then?rnGood question.rnRalph A. Raimi is a professor of mathematicsrnat the University of Rochester.rnO L I T I C SrnMerry Kwanzaarnby Nicholas StixrnWhat are you doing this year forrnKwanzaa? T’his was onee a ludierousrnquestion, but in today’s urbanrnAmeriea publie agencies, newspapers,rnand businesses trip oer themselvesrnshowing their unqualified support forrnthis anomalous occasion. Presented nowrnas a religious, if not a national event,rnKwanzaa immediately follows thern”Judeo-Christian” holidays. It is onernthing to wear mismatched socks, and anotherrnaltogether to mix and match politicsrnand religion. After all, those whornhae most vociferously supported Kwanzaa’srnestablishment are the same folks,rnwhite and black, who arc always on thernlookout for displays of religious faith asrnbenign as a menorah or Christmas treernin a publie square.rnKwanzaa is so established in government-rnsanctioned publie life that an otherwisernvaluable, remedial writing textbook.rnEvergreen, reports that “MaulanarnKarenga introduced Kwanzaa to Ameriearnin 1966.” Kwanzaa was not introducedrnto, but invented in America by Karengarn(a/k/a Ron Everett). It is one of thosernpseudo-African practices, like namingrnchildren “Tawana” or “Lakeisha,” orrnwearing “crown” caps, that confirm realrnAfricans’ worst misgivings about Americanrnblacks.rnKwanzaa exists to enhance blackrnAmericans’ self-esteem via a zero-sumrncalculus that requires them to insultrn”Kuropean Americans.” The very termrn”African American” bespeaks supcrioritvrnto its black users; “European American”rnis a half-educated obscurantist’s versionrnof “honkev.” As per philosopherrnC.I,. Stevenson’s concept of “persuasiverndefinitions,” Afroccntrists seek to imposernterms of discourse that confirmrntheir beliefs without the need to arguernthem.rnIn December 1994, a columnist inrnI larlem’s Amsterdam News, Nev York’srnoldest black newspaper, complained thatrncommercialism had soiled Kwanzaa’srnpurity. Conversely, in his 1994 pamphletrn”Kwanzaa,” Harlem communityrnactivist Cedrie McClester gave “a specialrnthanks to Mr. Jose Ferrer, a true marketingrngenius and a living example of thernKwanzaa principles”:rnThe true significance of Kwanzaarnlies in the seven principles it isrnbased on. Unity, self-determination,rncollccti’e work and responsibility,rncooperati e economies, purpose,rncrcativit’ and faith are notrnonly good principles to live b’, theyrnare also universally recognized asrnproper guides for cohesive socialization.rnMost Afroccntrie statements of faith arernmeant to be taken literally by white devils,rnbut read “Black” by “Africans.” If thernseven principles of Kwanzaa were “universallyrnrecognized,” there would bernno need to state them, and they wouldrnbe out of place in a specifically blackrncelebration couched in East AfricanrnKiswahili (“Ifnioja, Kugichagulia, Ujima,rnUjamaa, Nia, Juumba, and Imani”).rnOne hears alwass from black nationalistrnleaders and their “progressive” whiternstooges of the need for “unit) againstrnthose who would divide us,” as if Martiansrnwere corning from outer space tornbreak an indivisible human solidarity.rnThe solidarity of course, is that ofrnblack nationalists against whites—andrnblack opponents. It never occurs to blackrnnationalists’ white supporters that theyrnplay the role of “Uncle Toms,” prostratingrnthemselves before those who haternthem because of their skin color.rnWhite “liberals” demand respect forrnblacks’ “right to self-definition.” Eairrnenough—if blacks want to celebraternKwanzaa privately. But as part of arnconsciously anti-Christian movement,rnKwanzaa owes what popularity it enjoysrnentirely to its having been imposed onrnchildren, black and nonblack alike,rnthrough public schools and publiclyrnfunded agencies, often with the helprnof powerful whites. Not only is its establishmentrnunconstitutional, but liberalsrnwho denounce every attempt to reintroducernpublic school praer have beenrncuriously quiet regarding the state establishmentrnof Kwanzaa. Apparently, somernself-definitions are more equal thanrnothers.rnMcClester claims that Ron Everett/rnMaulana Karcnga’s invention,rnwhich “began as a cultural idea . . . hasrnblossomed into the only nationally celebrated,rnindigenous, non-religious, nonheroic,rnnon-political African-Americanrnholiday.” That’s a lot of “non’s.” Justrnbefore denying that Kwanzaa is a religiousrnholiday, McClester praises Allah.rnImmediately after dening that it is a politicalrnholiday, he describes Kwanzaa asrn”an expression of [Everett’s] nationalistrnUs organization.” He denies that Kwanzaarnis a “Christmas substitute,” only tornnote that “Dr. Karenga recognized thernundue hardship that the over commercializationrnof Christmas has for blackrnpeople and others who are at the lowestrnrung of the social strata. Therefore, thosernwho find Kwanzaa to be more meaningfulrnto them, now have an option and canrnstill be part of the holiday season,” Arernwe to believe it is a mere coincidencernthat h’.verett/Karenga chose the week ofrnDecember 26-January 1 to celebraternKwanzaa?rnIn other words, no matter how onernviews it, Kwanzaa poses problems. IfrnKwanzaa is political, wh should Americansrnrecognize a holida- not the propertyrnof all the people? And if Kwanzaa isrnreligious, then it has no claim on publicrnpropagation, unless other religions getrnparity.rnTo be sure, for most blaek nationalistsrnKwanzaa and the Afroccntrie counterculturernit is a part of represent little morernthan fast-buck schemes. However, forrnKwanzaa’s empire-building founder andrnhis politically influential supporters,rnthis counterculture provides a racialrnstronghold in which blacks can be asrn”nasty as they wanna be,” a counter-religionrnto destroy Christianity, and a statewithin-rnthe-state that seeks, ultimately,rnto dcstro the state surrounding and supportingrnit. “Ilrio man’ of Kwanzaa’s whiternsupporters have a sentimental attachmentrnto the notion of a Marxist worker’srnrevolution that long outlived their connectionrneither to Marxism or labor.rnThey refuse to face the fact that race,rnwhile a potentialK’ revolutionary factor.rn42/CHRONICLESrnrnrn