Alternet: No Thanks To Thanksgiving

[Hissyspit]

No Thanks to Thanksgiving
By Robert Jensen, AlterNet
Posted on November 23, 2006, Printed on November 23, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/44661/

- snip -

That the world's great powers achieved "greatness" through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable.

But in the United States, this reluctance to acknowledge our original sin -- the genocide of indigenous people -- is of special importance today. It's now routine -- even among conservative commentators -- to describe the United States as an empire, so long as everyone understands we are an inherently benevolent one. Because all our history contradicts that claim, history must be twisted and tortured to serve the purposes of the powerful.

One vehicle for taming history is various patriotic holidays, with Thanksgiving at the heart of U.S. myth-building. From an early age, we Americans hear a story about the hearty Pilgrims, whose search for freedom took them from England to Massachusetts. There, aided by the friendly Wampanoag Indians, they survived in a new and harsh environment, leading to a harvest feast in 1621 following the Pilgrims first winter.

- snip -

Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers.

The first president, George Washington, in 1783 said he preferred buying Indians' land rather than driving them off it because that was like driving "wild beasts" from the forest. He compared Indians to wolves, "both being beasts of prey, tho' they differ in shape."

MORE AT LINK

AlterNet orginally ran this article on Thanksgiving 2005.

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of, most recently, The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights Books).

[lonestarnot]

1. Articulation of truth is often painful.

[H2O Man]

2. Agricultural societies

have had harvest festivals for hundreds of years before the Pilgrams landed on Plymouth Rock. We do best, I think, when we put the holiday in its proper context. As far as the Euro-American versus Native American aspect of Thanksgiving -- which is absolutely important to recognize as an ugly chapter in the history of the human family -- our best option is to do everything possible to insure that the United States deals fairly with traditonal Indian people today .... including not only those living within the US territorial boundries, but from the top of North America to the entire South American continent.

[slackmaster]

3. Nothing like a good self-loathing thread to bring holiday cheer on our day off

:rofl:

[Vorta]

4. Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! And bugger the Scrooges.

These people aren't much differnt than the fundies whining about Christmas.

[ixion]

6. yeah, except the genocide really happened

where this so-called 'War on Christmas' is a complete fabrication.

[H2O Man]

7. I think that

is the difference between shit and sugar. But some don't get it.

[acmavm]

12. Oh, take my word for it, a LOT of us get it. But let me ask, what

is your recommended method for going back and changing history? What would you advise for going back to the day the first neanderthal (or whomever) picked up a club and committed his first crime over territory and food? Does anyone here have any really good ideas about going back and changing history? And not just European history. Don't be naive. You need to change the history of the entire human race if you want to fix this little problem. Because if you are insinuating that white Europeans are the first conquerors and exploiters of a native people, you are sadly mistaken and need to take a whole shitload of history classes.

Now, having said that, I suggest people channel their anger into constructive ways to help the persecuted NOW. People who came here on a ship 250+ years ago and who gave thanks for their survival isn't the damn problem here. The problem is the history of the entire human race. From the day Fred picked up the first club because he wanted what Barney had, the story of the human race has been one of continual conquest, strong over the weak, rich over the poor.

If you guys want to pitch a real bitch today, do it RIGHT. Include every nation that ever stole the land of a weak indigineous people. Make sure you nail every agressor nation to the wall. I say let's really screw with the Italians. Rome was one of the worst the world ever saw. Anyone here related to any Mongols? Well fuck you, you mean and evil and nasty people.

WOW! Nothing changed! I'm confused! You mean by throwing around recriminations and insults I can't change what happened? Would this mean that I would be better off taking care of the here and now?????????? There's a novel idea. Instead of saying that ALL white people are nasty pieces or work and every damn holiday has some hidden agenda that's meant to put down every other race on the earth (even though indigenous people were a part of this holiday), why don't we look at it for what it should evolve into? A day for thanks for what we have today (because it could all be gone tomorrow) and a day to plan to make a better tomorrow for ourselves and for the rest of the world.

[H2O Man]

13. You are being silly

when you post nonsense about my "recommended method" of going back and changing history. Perhaps you didn't read my first post on this thread.(See #2) If you did already see it, and still choose to write things like you did, I have nothing more to say to you.

[acmavm]

18. Actually I apologize because my post wasn't directed at you

really, but at the whiners and bitchers in general. I just got down as far as your second post and then got impatient and hit 'reply'. I've been known to do that.

But I am not being silly. Hell, if you some real assignment of guilt and blame I'll just say that I don't want to hear about any of this shit. I'm a woman. It's you men who've turned what could have been a wonderful world upside down with your testosterone-laced aggression. I belong to the part of society that gave the world farming and thereby civilization. I'm part of the world that's been on the losing end since day one.

Now see, here I've gone and done what pissed me off in the first place. Instead of focusing on what is still possible, I've gone off on a tangent of what's beyond anyones ability to change. We can help each other in the here and now to make tomorrow better. History is over, done, and gone. And unless someone here is on a personal basis with either Sherman or Mr. Peabody, there's nothing you can do about it.

[Karenina]

20. Revisionist history is what is in question.

Harvest feasts and gratitude are not uniquely American. What IS, in terms of the American variety, is the total indoctrination of successive generations in a LIE. The testosterone-laced aggression you speak of has been wholly whitewashed by an ad campaign of uniformed pilgrims, turkeys and LIES.

[Vorta]

10. you can screw up any holiday if you want to

[spoony]

21. I agree, I haven't killed anyone

and I'm tired of the idea that wallowing in history's bloodlettings and feeling guilty is somehow a proper attitude on holidays.

It's really no different from that albino monk flogging the hell out of himself in the Di Vinci Code. Recognizing history is fine, but some people really need to also recognize that celebrating the day is not something shameful.

[northofdenali]

5. Damn, Hissy - I was just about to go to bed!!

4:25 am in Fairbanks is EARLY and COLD. So here comes Hissy with a philosphical/ethical/political etc. thingy -

and now I can't sleep.

Rats!! to you!! ( :rofl: )

[Hissyspit]

8. I'm big on the yin and yang of things.

[northofdenali]

9. ..... < mrrrrrrrrrr

Sorry. Cat got on the keyboard. At least it was the smallest one. The biggest usually leaves paw prints on the monitor, and I can't see through them!

Speaking of which:

'Gnight all!!

NoD

[dogman]

11. I was about to post a similar thought.

A man I deal with at work asked what I was doing on Thanksgiving Day. I said "Probably just eating some turkey." He then said that he did not celebrate Thanksgiving because of what happened to his people. Since he is African-American, I assumed he meant slavery. He then said that he is part Choctaw and saw the day as leading to the death of many of his family. I then realized that it is all a matter of perspective and I understood how it could be viewed as the beginning of the American holocaust. By showing kindness to the newly arrived Europeans, were they then rewarded with attempted extermination and displacement? It seems so. There was also a cartoon in today's newspaper depicting Native Americans discussing building a wall as the ship approached shore. Meanwhile a person on the ship is hollering "Do you speak English?" There are a lot of things to think about today.

[Hissyspit]

14. Tell me the name of the cartoonist (it should be signed) and I'll see if I can find it

and post it.

[dogman]

17. Neseman

[Hissyspit]

19. Can't find it...

"Dale Neseman is the local editorial cartoonist for the Hamburg (NY) Sun. He's also the local editorial cartoonist for the Voice News in New Baltimore, Michigan. And at the Jupiter (Fla.) Courier, as well as about 20 other small newspapers around the country."

[greyl]

15. Not bad. nt

[pooja]

16. I think its a nice time to just stop and be grateful for the things that

we have in our lives. We don't spend a lot of time appreciating what we have and who we have in our lives. Its a nice time to stop and reflect. And its the start of the season of giving. I personally think that most people vecome a little happier this time of year. Well maybe some of them. Why is it that I am working a 16hr day at a hotel and I am the one with the largest smile on my face... ok rambling on a turkey day.

Hey whether you are celebrating or not, I am thankful for all of you!!!!

[Hissyspit]

22. .

[NaturalHigh]

23. I had turkey and ham...

mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, corn, and cherry delight tonight. It was a great meal with my wife, my kids, and my parents. I don't feel one pang of guilt about it either. My only regret is that I'm too full to sleep.