In the US, I live in Arkansas – not exactly a pinnacle of religious diversity. I, however, had never been exposed to school-sponsored explicitly religious events like I was when I lived in England. Our Christmas parties were always winter parties, and we would at least talk about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Our spring break was always called “spring break” – never Easter break. And, most importantly, there were never any required Christian assemblies. Institutionally, I’ve never felt isolated for being Jewish in the United States.
I went to every single year of my schooling in Arkansas. I don't recall more than like a mention of Hanukkah here and there and maybe one of those lefty posters with a bunch of holidays on it stuck in a corner. Kwanzaa, well, we used to make fun of the (black) teachers that would come in acting like anyone cared about Kwanzaa. I'm pretty sure there were some Christmas carols and other events at school at some point. I honestly don't remember that well, I totally would not have been into that. So I guess Arkansas has changed, because I was years beyond school in 2015.
I went to every single year of my schooling in Arkansas. I don't recall more than like a mention of Hanukkah here and there and maybe one of those lefty posters with a bunch of holidays on it stuck in a corner. Kwanzaa, well, we used to make fun of the (black) teachers that would come in acting like anyone cared about Kwanzaa. I'm pretty sure there were some Christmas carols and other events at school at some point. I honestly don't remember that well, I totally would not have been into that. So I guess Arkansas has changed, because I was years beyond school in 2015.