MG, I agree with you that Kwanzaa is an invented holiday. As you say: If you have little or no self esteem you do what you can to improve it. Kwanzaa is obviously a "feel good" holiday invented right at the time of the civil rights movement that addresses that issue.

So what is so wrong with this? Why object to what people who have been oppressed do to increase their self-esteem?

The only thing I have ever objected to about Kwanzaa is when its presented either as an ancient African holiday, as it sometimes is, or when people display egregious ignorance in talking about it. I once looked at a book in Borders Book Shop that said "Kwanzaa is based on a holiday from Kenya, a country in West Africa." I thought: if this bozo can't even get out a map to check out where Kenya is, why should I believe anything she says about Kwanzaa?

Another thing that bothers some of my Jewish friends about Kwanzaa is the fact that it uses a ritual candleholder called a Kinara. The word is usually pronounced by the teachers and celebrants I know as "kenora," to rhyme with "Menorah." A lot of Jews feel this was ripped off directly from Hanukkah. I suspect they're right, but I don't begrudge African-Americans the use of the symbol, so it doesn't bother me.