Truth about Thanksgiving

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Professor
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DateThe Truth about Thanksgiving
Jacqueline Keeler views Thanksgiving as a holiday that can allow the natives and the Europeans to solve their differences. By developing a culture of giving and sharing, evil intentions and acts that contributed to this holiday can be forgotten. Judy Bow, on the other hand, recounts 11 facts about Thanksgiving to deconstruct the various myths in place. For instance, the myth stating that the Pilgrims invited the natives to join them for the celebration. In reality, the natives had celebrated this holiday for many years before the Pilgrims’ arrival. Lastly, Robert Jensen argues that Thanksgiving presents a chance for American citizens to ignore the actual events surrounding the holiday (Jensen 1). Instead, they prefer to associate the holiday with food and family. Therefore, promoting a culture of denial which inevitably impedes national progress.
Jensen’s arguments about Thanksgiving are correct. It is a holiday that promotes a distorted version of what occurred when the Wampanoag Indians fought against the Europeans for the rights to their native land (Jensen 1). The myth that Thanksgiving is a holiday where family members celebrate together and recognize the good things in their life is a vast misrepresentation of the actual events. The war against the Europeans involved acts of violence against the natives; the fact that everyone celebrating the holiday fails to acknowledge (Jensen 1). White supremacists prefer distorting the events and proclaiming the holiday a family and football event to allowing the descendants of these natives to remember the suffering their ancestors endured to save America.

However, I do not believe the myths associated with Thanksgiving present a peace issue.
The ideas that would benefit children include the native’s respect for the environment and their way of giving thanks to it. These individuals believe that the longer they care and conserve their environment, the longer it will continue providing for them. As a result, they recite their gratitude to Mother Earth and avoid wastefulness when dealing with nature. Another ideology involves the sense of community among the natives. They argue that humans have a symbiotic relationship with the plants and animals on the planet. They honor this connection through ceremonies and artworks which not only emphasize the significance of the relationship but also act as a source of identity for the natives.
Work Cited
Jensen, Robert. “I’m the Guy Who People Think Hates Thanksgiving.” Alternet, Alternet Media, 27 Nov. 2013, www.alternet.org/food/why-i-have-political-and-personal-anxieties-about-thanksgiving.