379. Seriously, the reason I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving has nothing to do with making you feel bad
November 25th, 2010 § 14 Comments
Sometimes, I dress like this to teach. This tweedy blazer has elbow pads and this big chambray shirt dress has huge pockets. This hat falls off my head when Le Mistral blows into town. If I look like a brat, it’s because I am. Sometimes, if I go into work wearing anything that even suggests I might have a waistline or hangbags, I end up regretting it because of hyperactive teenagers, which is why it’s nice to wear a menswear inspired blazer and and big big chambray dress sometimes. I woke from a dream where a little girl stood in front of a Mastodon fossil with her hands out like a bunny and asked me, “Do you want to see me be a lamb?” Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’m really happy that Jennifer left a comment about the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving on my Columbus Day Post from a few weeks ago:
Hang on everyone, even though we are now well past Canadian Thanksgiving, I’ve just discovered this blog (which I adore, by the way), and feel duty bound to point out that Canadian Thanksgiving has nothing whatsoever to do with American Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving is a harvest festival (which is why it occurs in early October) and does not have the racializing implications of American Thanksgiving, nor does it have anything to do with the Pilgrims.
I didn’t know that about Canadian Thanksgiving, but I’m so glad to know, and I’m always glad when holidays are not borne from shatteringly inaccurate histories and myths. I asked my students in class if they think most Native Americans happily celebrate this holiday, and my French students, who know little to nothing about American Thanksgiving, were like, ‘yeah, why not,’ until I told them that even by conservative estimates, there were about 7 million Native Americans living north of Mexico in 1492 (with excellent arguments made for a population count closer to 18-19 million) and by 1910, there were only 400,000.
“How I stopped hating Thanksgiving and learned to be afraid,” by Robert Jensen does a great job providing a succinct rundown on all the reasons why it’s kind of a disgusting holiday.
Although it’s well known to anyone who wants to know, let me summarize the argument against Thanksgiving: European invaders exterminated nearly the entire indigenous population to create the United States. Without that holocaust, the United States as we know it would not exist. The United States celebrates a Thanksgiving Day holiday dominated not by atonement for that horrendous crime against humanity but by a falsified account of the “encounter” between Europeans and American Indians. When confronted with this, most people in the United States (outside of indigenous communities) ignore the history or attack those who make the argument. This is intellectually dishonest, politically irresponsible, and morally bankrupt.
In left/radical circles, even though that basic critique is widely accepted, a relatively small number of people argue that we should renounce the holiday and refuse to celebrate it in any fashion. Most leftists who celebrate Thanksgiving claim that they can individually redefine the holiday in a politically progressive fashion in private, which is an illusory dodge: We don’t define holidays individually or privately — the idea of a holiday is rooted in its collective, shared meaning. When the dominant culture defines a holiday in a certain fashion, one can’t pretend to redefine it in private. To pretend we can do that also is intellectually dishonest, politically irresponsible, and morally bankrupt.
The entire article is worth reading, even though in a lot of ways it’s an obvious article. The reasons why Thanksgiving is a painful holiday to celebrate shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone, but frustratingly, it is, and often, around this time of year, when the print and online media (blogs included) go bananas and cream with holiday guides and holiday recipes and holiday tips that I find odious, I feel alienated and helpless and strange (even though I don’t think it’s strange to be against a holiday that celebrates genocide, colonialism, and deceit and lies on a national level,) and I wish sometimes other people would understand that my heart is not black as coal just because Thanksgiving doesn’t make me happy and warm inside, and that my heart indeed is capable of warmth and love, but I can only feel warmth toward things that I find to be genuinely loving.
For example, after I taught my students about the real origins of Thanksgiving, I felt happy and connected to the world to be one less American perpetuating lies, and I feel happy right now, knowing that tomorrow good folks will be protesting and observing the National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock, and I feel happy when I see these photos (via Julia from Allure à la Garconnière and Native Appropriations.)
The images are from a protest organized by Stanford students in 2009 in response to fraternities on campus holding ‘Native’ themed parties. When I see a picture like this, my heart doesn’t sour, I don’t complain, I don’t shoot my mouth about how much this protest offends me, but rather, I feel fiercely proud to have graduated from Stanford, and especially proud of progressive communities at Stanford. And when I read the transcript of the speech Moonanum James, co-leader of the United American Indians of New England (UAIM,) gave at the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, 1998, my heart is soars even more:
Native people do not give thanks just one day a year. Every day, we thank the Creator for this beautiful earth and for our survival. But we will not give thanks for the European invasion of our country. We will not celebrate the theft of our lands and the genocide of our people. We will not sing and dance to please the tourists who come here seeking a Disneyland version of history. Attention all tourists: If you are expecting us to put on a show, you would be better advised to go down to Plymouth Rock and watch the tide wash over it.
Some ask us: Will you ever stop protesting? Some day we will stop protesting: We will stop protesting when the merchants of Plymouth are no longer making millions of dollars off the blood of our slaughtered ancestors. We will stop protesting when we can act as sovereign nations on our own land without the interference of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and what Sitting Bull called the “favorite ration chiefs.” When corporations stop polluting our mother, the earth. When racism has been eradicated. When the oppression of Two-Spirited people is a thing of the past. We will stop protesting when homeless people have homes and no child goes to bed hungry. When police brutality no longer exists in communities of color. We will stop protesting when Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal and the Puerto Rican independentistas and all the political prisoners are free.
That speech, thinking about my country’s history, and having just come home from seeing Arcade Fire in Marseille makes me want to cry.
Love, Jenny
I realize I’m quoting your quotation of Robert Jensen here, but I’d rather talk about this with you, so:
“We don’t define holidays individually or privately — the idea of a holiday is rooted in its collective, shared meaning. ”
I have a hard time agreeing with this. If that’s true, I can’t imagine celebrating any holiday at all, since they’ve all been so incredibly cheapened by their practice in contemporary America. Conversely, all of my meaningful relationships with holidays are very personal and specific.
I get that there’s a line where the redefinition is so radically different from the basic concept that it makes the whole thing ridiculous, and maybe trying to ignore the genocidal implications of Thanksgiving falls into that category. But I think that’s a different argument than dismissing the act of negotiation and redefinition as “an illusory dodge.” I can celebrate Christmas even though I’m an atheist, and when on the 4th of July, the America that I’m celebrating doesn’t have to be the same as yours.
Hey Anthony (I love when you comment!!), I think you have a good point, and Jensen takes a polemical turn for sure with his rather, broad statement condemning the possibility that anyone can have a meaningful relationship with a nationally holiday because yr right, that statement makes every holiday a stupid one.
I think you’re right too to bring up that for some holidays ‘the redefinition is so radically different from the basic concept that it makes the whole thing ridiculous,” à la ignoring the origins of Thanksgiving and the continued struggles of Native people in the US, and I think for Jensen, that statement is a result of a his frustration at liberals/leftists/progressives, who certainly condemn the lies and the myth of Thanksgiving as a celebration of harmony and how kindly the Pilgrims treated the indigenous people, but all the while refusing to go further and say, so let’s stop celebrating this holiday.
I think celebrating Thanksgiving as a compassionate person is different from celebrating Christmas as an atheist or Valentine’s Day as a non-romantic, skeptic shrew (me,) or 4th of July as an ambivalent patriot, because the story of Thanksgiving is actively harmful–in that we are doing a disservice to ourselves as a country and to the people of our country by perpetuating this story of harmony and mutual aid (and perpetuating this story to our children at a young age) instead of acknowledging and being interested in pursuing the truth of how Native tribes disappeared from North America and Europeans prospered and proliferated.
I think it’s just inconceivable to someone like Jensen (and me) that the history and remembrance of the genocide of the indigenous people in the North America has ceased to be, for lack of a better term, a big fucking deal. I think it’s frustrating for these reasons to accept that as individuals we have the right to redefine Thanksgiving and make it meaningful in our way, because as long as we do that, America’s bloody past will never be a big fucking deal, the genocide that occurred with never be sacred, it’ll always just be a quick flash of guilt (oh, maybe not everyone likes Thanksgiving) if anything at all.
On the other hand, I do agree with you in that I don’t feel ashamed that my family celebrates Christmas even though we’re atheists. I don’t think my parents are delusional or making an illusory dodge when they celebrate American holidays that have had no religious, spiritual, or historical meaning for them, because it’s beautiful to have designated days when you can allow yourself or remind yourself to be with your family, or do nice things for other people. And I think it’s damning and unfair to disregard the need for individual agency and the empowerment we feel as individuals when we can reclaim holidays that have taken on icky pre-packaged meaning, and have become just another opportunity to push the button on conspicuous, rampant consumerism!
And I think you hit on something very subtle in that article, but I think it’s there–and that he’s coming from a somewhat white perspective when he says his bit about how holidays cannot be defined individually, because that’s basically something that immigrants in America have been doing for centuries in order to not feel completely alienated and disparate from the rest of American society.
Agreed!
“I think celebrating Thanksgiving as a compassionate person is different from celebrating Christmas as an atheist or Valentine’s Day as a non-romantic, skeptic shrew (me,) or 4th of July as an ambivalent patriot, because the story of Thanksgiving is actively harmful–in that we are doing a disservice to ourselves as a country and to the people of our country by perpetuating this story of harmony and mutual aid (and perpetuating this story to our children at a young age) instead of acknowledging and being interested in pursuing the truth of how Native tribes disappeared from North America and Europeans prospered and proliferated.”
Yes, this, exactly, and Thanksgiving is extra-upsetting because it is only one of many other instances where we refuse to acknowledge, and actively reconstruct memories of human suffering (see: Japanese internment, for example). SocImages illustrated this nicely in comparing Germany’s memory of the Holocaust to the US’s memory of the old south here.
Thank you for this. I am German, living in the UK, and noone here celebrates Thanksgiving. I always liked the idea of a holiday where everyone goes home to their families to eat, like a non-commercial Christmas. But I didn’t know about the myth behind Thanksgiving at all – I thought it was a harvest festival. So thank you for informing me, iIneed to think this through now.
great post, Jenny. I also didn’t know that there was a Canadian Thanksgiving, either. One of my friends on Facebook posted a status this morning complaining how the TV only spent less than 1 minute filming the Native float, and then panned to the marching band, which was apparently more ‘important.’
Typical.
Thanks for this post Jenny. I have to admit that it’s hard being away from home during this time of the year because I wish I was there for Thanksgiving dinner with my family and that I do enjoy doing my yearly “I’m thankful for…” blog post (and reading ones other people have written). Part of that is because I enjoy taking part of something where many people, all on the same day, take assessment of their lives and realize how privileged they are. But, of course, part of that privilege is recognizing that the origination of the holiday I am celebrating is deeply intertwined with the extinguishing of entire societies and culture and the continuing disenfranchisement of many people. So I’m glad for your reminder.
great points, but then you saying you saw arcade fire in Marseilles makes ME want to cry!
Okay yes….while Canadian Thanksgiving IS about celebrating the harvest…..we are NO LESS GUILTY as a nation of committing genocide against our Native population. Lest we fall into the pattern of thinking we are oh so superior to America.
Applause. The American Literature text I teach from includes James’ speech. And, annually it has been eye-opening for my students to read.
Hmm, very interesting post. I think that rather than trying to eradicate the holiday altogether, spreading awareness about its false origins would be more productive. Thanksgiving originated before pilgrims came to America and was, originally, a religious harvest festival. I think adding more accurate info. for young children in schools would be a good place to start.
For many people Thanksgiving is a time that they get a vacation from school/work (for some it might just be that one day), so it’s an opportunity to spend time with friends and family. In my family, we meet in the same place my parents have been going since the 70s, with family and friends that we may only see once a year. We eat a wonderful feast and catch up. We don’t go around the table and each give a contrived statement of what we’re thankful for, and there is certainly no mention of pilgrims or Native Americans. To have this gathering on another day would be extremely impractical, and to completely cancel it would really be a shame. I’m sure that many other families have a similar experience.
So while I share your disgust at the US’s willful ignorance, I’m not sure that a “war on Thanksgiving” (imagine the heyday Fox News would have with that…) is the solution. After all, Thanksgiving didn’t actually cause the genocide, and holidays do have deeper personal/cultural implications than their (false) origins.
I’m inclined to agree.
Though I used to be part of the angry-about-Thanksgiving camp, I’ve since re-evaluated my relationship with the holiday. Your post caused me to look into Thanksgiving history, though, so thanks for that. Of course, as a child I was taught “the myth”: the Pilgrims and Indians (or Native Americans–choose your term, I had a close Navajo friend who preferred “Indian” to “Native American,” but that’s another issue) gathered together on Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the latter’s hospitality and care towards the former. Not much later I learned about the ensuing genocide, and for years, I too connected the two in my mind, or at the very least found Thanksgiving entirely hypocritical and ridiculous. But as Rachel pointed out, Thanksgiving did not cause the genocide. The “original” Thanksgiving (assuming it happened the way we all learned it did) did not promote negativity, but good and positive relations. So, as I understand it, there is nothing wrong with the original Thanksgiving. It’s the ensuing tragedy that is terrible and, yes, generally forgotten and ignored. I do take issue with this, but not with the positive attitudes and relations that the Plymouth Thanksgiving was allegedly founded upon.
According to Wikipedia (yes, I totally Wikied this), the modern Thanksgiving was Lincoln’s doing. During the Civil War, he “invited” American citizens to set aside the fourth Thursday of November to praise God. I had no idea. So, the Thanksgiving we have celebrated since 1863 actually has little to do with the original Thanksgiving of 1621 and the harvest festivals before that.
At any rate, for me Thanksgiving has become a day to be lazy with my family. And I can love it for that reason while still taking issue with the various injustices committed in the U.S. over centuries.
Okay, second post, because I think this is separate and deserves more discussion.
The protests on the native-themed parties really interests me. There was a similar uproar at my university last year when some girls on the soccer team (really the only reason this went public) went to a costume party in black face. There was more to the story, but it brought up the issue of when it is appropriate to dress as a person of another race/culture. Obviously black face is a unique example because of its extremely racist history as entertainment for whites, and obviously having a “native” theme is a generalization that is meant to be a novelty, but where exactly do we draw the line?
What about a black person wearing “white face” that is meant to be derogatory? There is the difference3 of who exploits who (I don’t think white people in the U.S. are in dire need of racial protection), but does that make it okay? What if a white person is super interested in Native American culture and wants to wear their traditional costume to a party? What about the girl wearing a slutty Bavarian dirndl for Halloween? Or the slutty French maid (culture AND class, buuurn)? Is it okay as long as the culture you are dressing up as is the same race? Or does the issue lie in whether or not the culture has been (or is currently) marginalized?
I’m not trying to start arguments, just honestly interested in getting some other views on this. I grew up and currently live in rural West Virginia, so the diversity is somewhat lacking. Most people’s opinions on this question (the black face) were, “It was only a joke, and plus we have moved so far beyond racial issues that it shouldn’t matter.” I don’t want to portray West Virginians as racist, but many are very sheltered. (There were some varying degrees of disgust on the issue, but the above response was the most common.)
So yeah, hope this generates some conversation. Sorry to flood your comments with my ramblings.
Agree with Vancouverista here: Canadian Thanksgiving isn’t so directly related to killing native people, but we did lots of that nonetheless. And the man who apparently started Canadian Thanksgiving, explorer Martin Frobisher, did have a propensity for kidnapping the Inuit and taking them back to Europe to be paraded around until they died of some European disease.
I do, however, think that Thanksgiving is a fantastic holiday in the sense that it’s about family, food and fun, and doesn’t have a commercial edge to the same degree (except that you guys have a bunch of sales to make everyone go to the mall… we don’t have that in Canada either. I guess nothing is on sale in October…)