The Gorilla woke up this Thanksgiving quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in anticipation of celebrating the holiday known as “Thanksgiving.” He pondered the thought of the wee little chimps in his family running around excitedly, while waiting to dine on mounds of turkey and all of the trimmings that would abound. He reflected on past Thanksgivings and smiled thinking about family members who no longer with him. He even took a moment to quietly reflect on all he is thankful for; his family, his friends, his health, his success. “So much to be thankful for”, he thought. Then like a record being abruptly scratched to a halt midway through a peaceful song, he read a headline which made him, quite frankly, angry.
It was about a Seattle School District, which apparently does not share in the same sentiment about the Thanksgiving holiday as the rest of us, and they sent out a memo to parents of students to prove it. The memo, from Caprice Hollins, the district’s director of Equity, Race & Learning Support, included an attachment to a paper titled, “Deconstructing the Myths of ‘The First Thanksgiving.’” Included in these 11 ”myths” was everything from the food, which was really consumed (no mashed potatoes and cranberries), to Myth No. 3, which calls the colonists “rigid fundamentalists,” who came to the New World “fully intending to take the land away from its native inhabitants.” Myth No. 11 was perhaps the most guilt incurring one of all. It states that “Thanksgiving is a happy time.” It was followed by “Fact: For many Indian people, ‘Thanksgiving’ is a time of mourning … a bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal returned for friendship.”
The Gorilla is certainly not trivializing this fact whatsoever, but did anyone think to ask the Native Indians what they thought about all this? Well, yes actually, and one Seattle-area based tribe says that Thanksgiving, to them, holds exactly the same meaning as it does to most Americans; a time to celebrate family and what we are thankful for. David Tucker, a spokesman for the district, defended his district’s decision to send the letters stating that “it was an effort to be sensitive to minorities in Seattle schools.” Really? The Gorilla feels that this could have been accomplished another way. The school district could have printed a brief history on what the Native Americans went through during this time in history and how their culture and contributions helped to mold and shape the very country that we now call “America.” It could have highlighted how very thankful we, as Americans, should be to these wonderful people and how, although we should never take for granted exactly how difficult it was for them, we should absolutely be THANKFUL that they did it at all. As for the Seattle school district, their “guilt” objective was the wrong approach to take in the Gorilla’s humble opinion. No one needs to be a kill-joy about a holiday that sets out to invoke the spirit of thankfulness in a nation which could use a little reminder of all that we have to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and enjoy!
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:19 pm
In terms of history, it is clear that the victor writes the history books and things get slanted. There isn’t any getting around the fact that awful things have been done to the tribespeople who were in North America when the Pilgrims landed. For that matter, when the Vikings sailed here, they perpetrated atrocities on the tribespeople too. Where did these tribespeople come from? Probably they walked across a land/ice bridge from Asia.
History repeats itself with new people arriving in a foreign land due to power abhorring a vacuum principal. In other words, people flee religious persecution (the case for the Pilgrims), stronger tribes (think of Biblical context, the Mongrel Hoards, etc.) The point is, they move on to settle where it is easier to survive and to thrive.
North America wasn’t heavily settled at the time and the settlers expanded, so this was a logical place to flee. If it wasn’t for the tribespeople, they wouldn’t likely have survived. This is a main reason for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The fact that the tribespeople suffered is tragic, but doesn’t take away from the thanks that was offered up by the Pilgrims with the tribespeople in those days of hardship.
I won’t expend negative energy on negative issues, such as atrocities perpetrated on black people by whites in our history, what happened to the tribespeople when European settlers arrived in North America, what happened to the Jews when the Nazis set out to exterminate them in WW II. Nor will I weep for the Irish and the Chinese laborers who built the railroads, even though many died in horrible conditions to unite East and West.
I prefer to put my energy into positive issues, where we can make a difference today. What can I/we do to work toward world peace instead of world divisiveness? What can I/we do to eliminate threats to that peace? What can we do to ensure everyone who works toward common goals shares in the rewards for achieving them?
These are positive things and you only have so much time and energy to put in. If you get caught up spending energy on negative issues, it actually works against these positive goals. Do you think Ghandi would spend his energy on recriminations and seeking restitution, or rather would he have focused energy on getting beyond the negative and opening up opportunities for others to share?
While atrocities must be addressed, and a more truthful account should be taught in schools, this doesn’t mean the nation should not give thanks together for what we currently have. I am very happy that one of the tribes spoke up on this issue stating that they share in celebrating the holiday as well.
We need less divisiveness in our society and more alignment to common goals. If good news attracted viewers, a more balanced approach to news programs would be possible. The fact that bad news attracts viewers pushes our society more and more toward a negative focus, which isn’t a healthy approach to life.