The Pitt News Editorial Board recently published an
article titled “It’s OK to not like Thanksgiving,” in which it recommended
that readers ‘redefine’ what Thanksgiving means to them. That’s odd, the
term seems perfectly clear to me. Nevertheless, the editorial claimed that “Thanksgiving
is a weird holiday as is,” and asserted that the holiday is “forced upon”
students. It added, “We are celebrating the genocide of the Wampanoag tribe
by eating with our families and saying what we’re thankful for.”
Who hasn’t sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner
with their loved ones, bowed their heads, and earnestly prayed: “Dear Lord, we
thank thee for the turkey and fixings, football, all our blessings, and especially
for the genocide of the Wampanoag tribe?” Are the Pitt News Editorial Board
members clinically insane or just tragically woke? Thanksgiving is not “weird”
nor “forced upon” anyone. Those who don’t wish to observe (let alone celebrate)
it don’t. Sadly, many in our ever more faithless and jaded society just think
of the erstwhile reverent holiday as “Turkey Day,” a day off work given over to
watching football, eating and drinking. And some no longer even have the day
off. But how could thanking God for—or
simply acknowledging-- our current blessings be construed as “celebrating the
genocide of the Wampanoag tribe” hundreds of years ago, however it occurred?!
How would we “redefine” Thanksgiving, other than as
its opposite? Well, the
alumni associations of several universities are taking part in a webinar titled
“The Thanksgiving Dilemma: Reevaluating Our Annual Celebration” in which they
are addressing that very question. According to something called the Alumni
Learning Consortium, the “national mood” has changed recently, leading “many
Americans” to ponder whether
Thanksgiving should be “rededicated” as a “National Day of Mourning” reflecting the “centuries-long displacement and persecution of
Native Americans.”
Washington State
University is one of the participants, an extremely sad irony in that President
George Washington instituted the holiday by issuing a proclamation on October 3rd,
1789, designating the last Thursday of that November as “a day of public
thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts
the many signal favors of Almighty God…”
Not to be outdone in
turning gratitude into mourning, University of Oregon alumni recently led an hour-long
discussion titled “Thanks, But No Thanks-giving: Decolonizing an American Holiday.” The subject of reparations was
brought up at the event, the bulk of which was spent in an open forum. Attendees had the opportunity to
share their thoughts on “decolonizing our understanding of this holiday and the
cultures surrounding it,” reconciling “relationships damaged by colonization, both
human to human, and human to earth,” and how “inviting diverse perspectives”
might play into this “while speaking truth to power.”
We all know how
tolerant progressives are when exposed to perspectives of those with
whom they disagree. If, say, an unvaccinated person or a Trump supporter tries
speaking truth to power it rarely goes well. But I’m sure they sought out
differing perspectives, just like the New York Times and the Washington Post
do. (For example, the former might characterize my writings as “bigoted and
xenophobic” while the latter might label them “xenophobic and bigoted.”)
The truth is, when the Mayflower pilgrims and the
Wampanoag sat down for the first Thanksgiving in 1621, it was a routine—and amicable-- harvest
celebration. Seven months prior to that feast, they had negotiated a peace treaty, one which lasted for nearly 50
years. In fact, that 1621 treaty was the only
one between Native Americans and English colonists to be honored throughout the
lives of all who signed it.
It was diseases such as smallpox and leptospirosis that largely and tragically led to
the decimation of the Wampanoag tribe.
So it’s all in how one looks at things, I guess. I,
apparently naively, previously thought that gratitude was a good thing. One of
the keys to a happy, rewarding, successful life. My dad has long since passed,
but I remember his reaction when someone was complaining about a problem with
their car. He would say, “How many moving parts are there in a vehicle like
that? Where do the raw materials come from? How many people and factories are
involved in the assembly? Maybe we should all wonder at the fact that they
carry us wherever we want to go and give thanks that they work at all and don’t routinely
blow up or fall apart.” Many would call his observations simple or naïve now. But
perhaps it was a valid perspective, legitimate perception, and the frame of
mind that leads to happiness and contentment. My oldest brother-- who recently passed--
had cancer, glaucoma, and Alzheimers…and when anyone asked him how he was
doing, even shortly before he died, he would reply “Better than I deserve!”
I
guess that is partly why I previously found Democrats’ incessant grievance-mongering
and cult of victimhood so repulsive and so damaging. Dividing us by identity, I
thought, was disgusting. Encouraging jealousy, entitlement, and bitterness a
recipe for disaster. Wouldn’t it be much healthier for all of us as Americans
to come together in the love of our country, heritage, and unique founding
ideals? Or our shared ordeals? I used to believe that if we could all
come together with gratitude, that itself would be something for which we could
all be thankful.
But
no more. I have seen the (progressive) light. Which celebrates darkness.
So, I am here
to inform you that Thanksgiving sucks. I’m redefining it to
reflect just that assertion. My truth, my Thanksgiving, is that
there is nothing—absobleepinglutely nothing—to be thankful for. I
propose we rename the “holiday,” steeping it in wokeness. Let’s dub it “Thanklessness
Day” or “Unthankful Day.” A date which, like the United States, will live in
infamy. Let it forever be “Mourning in America.”
So, screw you,
George. And all of you in the dominant white patriarchal culture can kiss my
ass.
Pass the
turkey.
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