Thanksgiving: The Tale of Unseasoned Revisionist History

We have arrived at the time of year when you can’t go anywhere without someone reminding you it’s almost Thanksgiving and the time of year when we all must show gratitude for the “good” things in our lives. I’ll admit Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays not because I’m thinking of all the reasons I’m grateful, but because of the food and family. For me, Thanksgiving reminds me of staying up late with my mom and aunt helping them cook a big feast. Now that I’m a mother, Thanksgiving is about making the same food my mother did and watching the look of delight on my kids’ faces when I let them lick the beaters.

 

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A post shared by Danielle•Writer•Influencer (@mamademics) on Nov 25, 2015 at 8:51am PST

While Thanksgiving is about family and food for many of us, it’s also about the beginning of white supremacy in our country. And if I’m committed to raising children who fight against white supremacy, I must also be committed to teaching them the whole truth about the holidays—not just the fun parts.

This means telling them Thanksgiving Day actually isn’t about the Native Americans and European settlers sharing a meal and bridging two cultures together. Children are taught Thanksgiving represents peace and friendship and love.

Source: pixabay.com

The first Thanksgiving was actually a celebration of the “safe” return of colonial volunteers who slaughtered 700 Pequot Indians. Yes, you’re reading this correctly. Massachusetts had a celebratory feast after MURDERING 700 men, women, and CHILDREN!  

Over time, white revisionist history has turned Thanksgiving into a day about family and togetherness and gratitude. While it would be easier to focus on the warm and fuzzy, we do our children a disservice when we cover up the truth. So, please pass me the collard greens, but hold the unseasoned revisionist history. 

Consider: We are living in a time when white supremacy has come out of the shadows to kill Black people in the parking lot of Kroger, and to deliver makeshift bombs to the opponents of their self-proclaimed nationalist president.  If white supremacists managed to turn one of their first horrific acts of white supremacy into a day of gratitude, what do you think they’ll do when they write history books about today?

This Thanksgiving, before you go around the table asking everyone to say what they’re grateful for, hold a moment of silence for the Native Americans who were slaughtered and erased from history. Get started raising the advocate in yourself here – Raising an Advocate 101 (Self-Paced)

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