The Truth Behind Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a National holiday created based on the historical events that occurred between the European pilgrims and Native Americans. This national holiday holds an idea that in reality is not completely true. The author of the article “No thanks for Thanksgiving” argues that Thanksgiving should not be a day in where we indulge in glorious food and celebrate a “peaceful” and “friendly” encounter between two rivals but a day of mourning and atonement. I agree with Robert Jensen when he says that Thanksgiving Day should not be celebrated the way it is today. Instead, Thanksgiving Day should be associated with a day of fasting and mourning for those individuals who were killed by the European Pilgrims. As little kids living in the United States, we are taught that on the fourth Thursday of November Native Americans taught the European pilgrims how to farm. After the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved to be successful, they organized a celebratory feast and invited Native American allies. This feast was said to have lasted 3 days. However, there are no records of this happening. (www.history.com, 2018) The information we have been told does not include all the information and details that actually happened during this time period. The issue with Thanksgiving holiday is that it perpetuates a myth that the pilgrims came to the United States from Europe and were so kind and good to the native Americans. In reality, it was the genocide of indigenous people which is central to the creation of the United States. “Native Americans have the highest rate of suicide in the U.S at 16.25 per 100,000 for 2002-2006. Millions upon millions of Native Americans have died in European-perpetrated genocide, just as Africans did. And the root of America’s wealth really is in the theft of indigenous land, the genocide of Native people, and the enslavement of Black men and women.” (Charlene Muhammad, 2017) Jensen talks about Thanksgiving Day through the point of view of a historian. He claims that when one brings into the historical discussion any facts and interpretations that contest the celebratory stay and make people uncomfortable, suddenly the value of history drops precipitously. The United States demonstrates a fantasy of benevolence. Whenever you try to complicate this story, it creates hostility from the mainstream culture. This can eventually be harmful to the country because it can lead to an abuse of power. Several individuals, including myself at first, argue that Thanksgiving Day is not necessarily celebrated today with the intention of the first feast. Instead, society and culture have shifted its idea and it is now primarily celebrated to be thankful for your friends and family. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this national holiday was created based on a myth that includes both Pilgrims and Native Americans. Feathers, Pilgrim hats and other artifacts are still used to decorate your house or even as art and craft ideas for kids during the fall season. To keep celebrating a myth created by the government is extremely insensitive to those Native Americans who died during this genocide. Also, by not celebrating Thanksgiving Day in a way that includes feasting, it will finally make the United States, as well as the rest of the world, acknowledge the genocide of indigenous tribes and show respect for its wrongdoings. The replacement of Thanksgiving Day with a national day of atonement would indicate a moral progress in the United States. Jensen makes it clear to the reader that Thanksgiving Day as we know it is completely far from the truth. Now it is fine to have a day to be thankful for what we have and those who are around us, but it should not be associated with a happy story told generation to generation between the European Pilgrims and Native Americans. As humans with morals and principles, we should think about what it is we are celebrating and why and then make a decision based on our answers. Is it right of us?