You may have spent the Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by family, feasting on turkey and other traditional fare, but many academics have other ideas for how we should spend Thanksgiving and view its roots.
Because of academia’s general distaste for Western values and dedication to demonizing capitalist society, colleges across the country created programming to warn students of the evils of Thanksgiving. In the lead-up to Thanksgiving, colleges have facilitated conversations “about racism,” which they believe is inherently embedded in the holiday. Just look at these examples.
Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. called Thanksgiving a “National Day of Mourning.” At the University of Pennsylvania, one dorm held an information session for freshmen on the “strained” roots of Thanksgiving.
Professor Lindsey Passenger Wieck from St. Mary’s University created a guide on how to “de-romanticize” Thanksgiving so that educators can discuss Thanksgiving through “an anti-racist and racial justice lens.” In the same vein, Franklin & Marshall College Assistant Professor Eve Bratman
penned “Ten Ways to Make Your Thanksgiving about Social and Environmental Justice.”
At the University of Colorado Boulder, the school is using the holiday to talk about the Dakota Access Pipeline, environmentalism, and Native American-themed school mascots. UC Boulder is promoting a campaign called “Thanksgiving 2.0 #2018,” which provides “resources for indigenous and environmental groups working in solidarity with Standing Rock and other places where people continue to protect land, water, and insure [sic] a brighter future for coming generations.”
At the University of Oregon, student groups are calling for a “decolonization” of the holiday. The Native American Law Students Association and the Native American Student Union hosted an event titled, “Thanks But No Thanks-giving: Decolonizing an American Holiday.” Thanksgiving is “foundationally speaking, a celebration of the ongoing genocide against native peoples and cultures across the globe,” according to the event description.
A student journalist with Campus Reform asked University of Oregon students if Thanksgiving is racist and received mixed results.
“There’s definitely a racist history to Thanksgiving and that should probably definitely be addressed more in education,” one student said. Another student told Campus Reform, “The whole concept with, like, taking land and assigning a value to it through cost is, like, it was different through European cultures.”
Similarly, Will Witt of Prager U was chased off the campus of California State University, Northridge, when he showed up wearing an Native American costume, accompanied by a “black pilgrim.”
“This is racist as fuck!” one student screamed. “You’re endangering me because there’s fucking Indian natives dying because of you!” Then a class on Native American issues came out and started chanting “Take it off!” referring to Witt’s headdress, which was eventually snatched by an angry student.
Instead of focusing on the importance of gratitude and the history of our great nation, the politically correct thought police are warning of the harmful and offensive tropes of Thanksgiving. This can be anything from the dangers of “Indian-style crafts” during the month of November or to costumes such as the one that upset students at California State University, Northridge.
When college students return home for Thanksgiving, parents shouldn’t be surprised when politics at the table turns ugly. Academic institutions are sounding the alarm on the so-called grotesque origins of Thanksgiving, which is really a shame because they should be wishing students a well-deserved break from school, complete with time spent with family and some good home cooking.
