When I was in elementary school, I was taught that the pilgrims came to America and became friends with the Native Americans and created the day we know as Thanksgiving. Ironically in high school, I was taught the pilgrims pretty much created a mass genocide of the Natives and took over their land. It's funny how when we're younger we believe America was the "land of the free" and "the home of the brave" and as we get older we find out the exact opposite.
I personally do not find Thanksgiving to be important .. at least to me. I say this because I'm not Caucasian so the whole point of eating a huge feast with my family on one day of the year seems ridiculous. I know the whole idea of Thanksgiving is to give 'thanks' to the country we live in and people have always ask me why I don't celebrate it if I'm American. Well here are just a few reasons: there used to be laws in the 1800s that prevented Chinese immigrants from having rights plus let's not forget the internment camps Japanese-Americans were put in during WWII...
What my family does on Thanksgiving is go over to my grandmother's house in the afternoon to have a small dinner (no turkey because 1) turkey is expensive and 2) we don't eat that stuff), go back home and sleep for a bit, then wake up and drive down to the mall or Woodburn for Black Friday shopping.
Maybe we should reinvent the holiday so it is a personal celebration of everything we're thankful for: family, pets, etc..... The pilgrim story and the fate of the native tribes is hard to stomach.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't think of Thanksgiving as a pilgrim story anymore, I think of it more as celebrating harvest. I'm not a big fan of the holiday though, I'd prefer to join in your family's tradition and skip the huge feast.
ReplyDeleteThroughout all of your posts, your emotions are clear. That's great. I like to feel something when I read a paper. Your writing could inspire others to make changes.
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