Don't Let Them Cancel Thanksgiving
The cultural Marxists are at it again, trying to cancel a national day of thanksgiving that also celebrates our national history. The Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. They were on the seas for 66 tumultuous days, arriving near Cape Cod in November, establishing Plymouth Rock in December.
Life was harsh. Of the original 102 passengers, riven by hunger and illnesses, only 52 survived that first winter. An Indian named Squanto, of the Wampanoag tribe, had been captured by British merchants and sold as a slave to Spain. After he escaped, he spent three years in England, learning the language. On his return to America, he taught the settlers how to plant corn, catch eels from the streams, lobsters and fish from the ocean and how to navigate and survive the local environment. That first meal in 1921 was a celebration of survival, of mutual gratitude for the earth’s bounty.
In Plymouth, site of the Pilgrims’ landing, officials are hosting a National Indigenous Day of Mourning rally. At MIT, students on Tuesday were treated the school’s “4th annual Thanksgiving Myth-busting” as part of a DEI seminar aimed at “continuing our exploration of the narratives justifying land grabs via colonialism.” And at UC Davis, educators talked of “centering perspectives from Turtle Island (a name for North America used by some indigenous people) to decolonize Thanksgiving.”
This narrative, that colonists were bigots and natives were innocent, is so ingrained in the Leftwing orthodoxy that in his epic PBS series on the American Revolution, Ken Burns begins the 10-episode series with a land acknowledgement. As in, Americans stole the land from the Indians. This hardly seems a logical introduction to the war fought to win America’s independence from Britain. But then Ken Burns routinely refers to Washington, Jefferson and Hamilton as “our so-called founders.”
President Trump may have outlawed Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, but it beats on in the hearts of the cultural Left. Only the transgenders get more love from these misguided activists, who will twist history and meaning to suit their politics.
Don’t let them. Tell children what really happened in Plymouth. Go around the table and ask every person what they are grateful for. Of course watch football and eat too much and argue with relatives about politics. But celebrate the founding.
After all, it’s why we are here.
Love the image of tribes roaming the Potomac!
With the Trump administration in power in Washington, DC, there is a significant cultural counterweight opposing efforts to ban Thanksgiving. But there still are people who don’t want it marked for political and cultural reasons that are hostile to America and the West more generally.