Not everyone celebrates the holidays with a tree
Increased awareness and sensitivity to other religious and ethnic affiliations is resulting in a visible change in the advertising and marketing campaigns this holiday season according to this New York Times story (registration required). However, this trend is fraught with perils as my sister found when my nephew's school tried to make the holiday more inclusive by replacing some of the Christmas symbols with others.
The trading of sugarplums and Santa for dreidels and Kwanzaa candles dovetails with marked changes in the demographic makeup of the country. According to a 2001 study released by the City University of New York, 76.5 percent of the country classifies itself as Christian. A decade ago, that number was 86 percent.
African Americans, who as a group posted a 21.5 percent increase, make up 12.3 percent of the population. And the number of people with some Hispanic background has grown to 12.5 percent, a 57.9 percent increase since the 1990 Census. Whites make up 75.1 percent.