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No thanks to Thanksgiving

By Robert Jensen | Thursday, November 27, 2008 | AlterNet.org

“…Instead, we should atone for the genocide that was incited — and condoned — by the very men we idolize as our ‘heroic’ founding fathers….”…BS

http://www.alternet.org/story/108876/

 

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 6:06 AM and filed under Civil Rights, Education, History, Politics, Religion. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

3 Responses to “No thanks to Thanksgiving”

  1. Ian Alterman said:

    Oh, for goodness’ sake! Should we then totally get rid of Columbus Day, since he slaughtered Dominicans and Puerto Ricans? How about getting rid of Veterans’ Day, since, in most wars and military conflicts, thousands (at least) of civilians end up as “collateral damage?” And I guess we need to move Christmas from December, since, depending on interpretation, Jesus was actually born in either September/October or March/April.

    If we start down this path, where does it end?

    Posted on 27-Nov-08 at 8:17 am | Permalink
  2. Bill Swiggard said:

    As usual, I posted the piece not because I believe it (I most definitely do not), but because I found it interesting. A point of view one rarely hears. In terms of history, the author did well to remind us of the systematic ‘ethnic cleansing’ that accompanied first European colonization and later the expansion of those settlements in the Americas.

    Personally, I will be celebrating the day at a traditional feast surrounded by people I love, and the article will not spoil that. I think the word ‘genocide’ will probably not be brought up at that table, and that’s fine.

    Ian makes an excellent point, as usual, one that I agree with: when one starts ripping out holidays and other American traditions for perceived ‘political incorrectness’, or unfairness to one or more ethnic groups or minorities, or due to the rewriting of history — actual or perceived — there is literally no end whatsoever to the cultural damage that could be done.

    Posted on 27-Nov-08 at 11:01 am | Permalink
  3. Ian Alterman said:

    Bill:

    Thanks for understanding my comment in its context. As I began reading your response, I feared I had left the wrong impression.

    There really is a fine line between the “cultural damage that could be done” by “parsing” holidays socio-culturo-politically, and the fact that many (if not most) holidays ARE fraught with socio-culturo-political problems. I suppose it is simply yet another instance of the type of cognitive dissonance we all accept in order to maintain some sense of normalcy.

    Peace.

    Posted on 28-Nov-08 at 9:34 am | Permalink

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