Anti Racist Thanksgiving book

[Anonymous]

If only those advanced civilizations had canoed over to Asia or Europe or Africa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas for a book on the origin of Thanksgiving that doesnt contain problematic images/words/themes of the native Americans? (Or of the Pilgrims, I guess, but that seems to be less pervasive.)

Thanks!

As a history professor at GW I'm truly interested in what you consider racist about the retelling of the Thanksgiving story.

I hope you’re joking, as it is obviously a whitewashed story about cooperation and good harmony between pilgrims and Native Americans. Telling the story about the meal without context is racist.

So what do you think the Thanksgiving story is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas for a book on the origin of Thanksgiving that doesnt contain problematic images/words/themes of the native Americans? (Or of the Pilgrims, I guess, but that seems to be less pervasive.)

Thanks!

As a history professor at GW I'm truly interested in what you consider racist about the retelling of the Thanksgiving story.

I hope you’re joking, as it is obviously a whitewashed story about cooperation and good harmony between pilgrims and Native Americans. Telling the story about the meal without context is racist.

So what do you think the Thanksgiving story is?

Yes, I’m curious too. Please state which parts of the commonly told “Thanksgiving story” are false and did not occur.

[Anonymous]

It must be really exhausting trying to ensure everything is PC, when in reality no one cares, not even those you claim to seek justice for.

All of that energy spent in vain... Sad.

[Anonymous]

NP. I am from Massachusetts and grew up learning a ton about Pilgrims and other early colonials. I mean, we went to Pilgrim Village, Plymouth Rock, reenacted Thanksgiving (down to the outfits), and literally spent the entire 8th grade learning about the history of the small town where we lived.

In all that time, I think Native Americans came up only twice: Thanksgiving story and as the bad guys in King Phillip's War.

This is shameful in my opinion. History should not only be told from the perspective of the "winners" or privileged. We can all do better to educate ourselves and the next generation about the complexity of history. Of course that does not mean we have to introduce all of history's gory details at once to young kids. But if we learn more ourselves we can do a better job at ensuring that they don't end up with as narrow a view as we did.

Thanks to PP who shared the Slate article. I really liked this quote at the end:
What I don't think many people recognize, as we ask our grade school children to participate in Thanksgiving pageants and to celebrate this mythical Native American consent to colonialism — what we're asking them to do is identify with English colonists as "we" and to think of the Native historical actors as "them.”

My guess is what OP is getting at is avoiding this by teaching her kids about the holiday in a way that does not perpetuate this dichotomy and by humanizing the characature of Native Americans in the typical Thanksgiving story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I am from Massachusetts and grew up learning a ton about Pilgrims and other early colonials. I mean, we went to Pilgrim Village, Plymouth Rock, reenacted Thanksgiving (down to the outfits), and literally spent the entire 8th grade learning about the history of the small town where we lived.

In all that time, I think Native Americans came up only twice: Thanksgiving story and as the bad guys in King Phillip's War.

This is shameful in my opinion. History should not only be told from the perspective of the "winners" or privileged. We can all do better to educate ourselves and the next generation about the complexity of history. Of course that does not mean we have to introduce all of history's gory details at once to young kids. But if we learn more ourselves we can do a better job at ensuring that they don't end up with as narrow a view as we did.

Thanks to PP who shared the Slate article. I really liked this quote at the end:
What I don't think many people recognize, as we ask our grade school children to participate in Thanksgiving pageants and to celebrate this mythical Native American consent to colonialism — what we're asking them to do is identify with English colonists as "we" and to think of the Native historical actors as "them.”

My guess is what OP is getting at is avoiding this by teaching her kids about the holiday in a way that does not perpetuate this dichotomy and by humanizing the characature of Native Americans in the typical Thanksgiving story.

Lol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any way you tell it or re-tell it, the inevitable question must be: how can the land on which my house sits not be deemed stolen?

This is such a dead end argument. Land changes hands everywhere all the time since the beginning of time. This isn't unique to America.

Yes this. It isn’t racist it is survival of the fittest. Land is only yours if you have the means to keep it. Humans have been “taking” land from one another since the dawn of time, as does every other creature in the animal kingdom.

The above is a serious loser of an argument. Remember the 20th century?
social darwinism -> eugenics -> genocide

This whole exercise is futile. Nobody anywhere is going to give up their land, house, etc to whichever Native American tribe says to have owned it last. And then how can we be sure they were the one and only original habitants? How far back do we need to go and what proof would be needed? I'm not going to spend one second of time on Thanksgiving thinking about any of this. If I did I would end up looking for some Vikings or Normans who stole my ancient ancestors lands demanding some compensation.

Yeah that would be really complicated, but you are the only person on this thread going there. We are discussing how to present more realistic and factual information about the Thanksgiving story.

Most parents can anticipate the line of questioning that will follow such a conversation. So be prepared to answer the hard questions of what you plan to do about occupying stolen land. Then, enjoy your turkey dinner!

So instead, to avoid answering hard questions, you want everyone to pretend? Because that’s what the traditional Thanksgiving story is. It's pretend.

What giant babies you all are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any way you tell it or re-tell it, the inevitable question must be: how can the land on which my house sits not be deemed stolen?

This is such a dead end argument. Land changes hands everywhere all the time since the beginning of time. This isn't unique to America.

Yes this. It isn’t racist it is survival of the fittest. Land is only yours if you have the means to keep it. Humans have been “taking” land from one another since the dawn of time, as does every other creature in the animal kingdom.

The above is a serious loser of an argument. Remember the 20th century?
social darwinism -> eugenics -> genocide

This whole exercise is futile. Nobody anywhere is going to give up their land, house, etc to whichever Native American tribe says to have owned it last. And then how can we be sure they were the one and only original habitants? How far back do we need to go and what proof would be needed? I'm not going to spend one second of time on Thanksgiving thinking about any of this. If I did I would end up looking for some Vikings or Normans who stole my ancient ancestors lands demanding some compensation.

Yeah that would be really complicated, but you are the only person on this thread going there. We are discussing how to present more realistic and factual information about the Thanksgiving story.

Most parents can anticipate the line of questioning that will follow such a conversation. So be prepared to answer the hard questions of what you plan to do about occupying stolen land. Then, enjoy your turkey dinner!

So instead, to avoid answering hard questions, you want everyone to pretend? Because that’s what the traditional Thanksgiving story is. It's pretend.

What giant babies you all are.

I am not that PP, but I will ask again: What, specifically, is "pretend" about it? Did the colonists not arrive in 1620? Did they not learn better farming techniques, etc. from the Wamponoag people? Did they not all have a 3-day feast in the fall of 1621, including 90+ Native Americans? Did they not, at that time, have a peace treaty that lasted for 50+ years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any way you tell it or re-tell it, the inevitable question must be: how can the land on which my house sits not be deemed stolen?

This is such a dead end argument. Land changes hands everywhere all the time since the beginning of time. This isn't unique to America.

Yes this. It isn’t racist it is survival of the fittest. Land is only yours if you have the means to keep it. Humans have been “taking” land from one another since the dawn of time, as does every other creature in the animal kingdom.

The above is a serious loser of an argument. Remember the 20th century?
social darwinism -> eugenics -> genocide

This whole exercise is futile. Nobody anywhere is going to give up their land, house, etc to whichever Native American tribe says to have owned it last. And then how can we be sure they were the one and only original habitants? How far back do we need to go and what proof would be needed? I'm not going to spend one second of time on Thanksgiving thinking about any of this. If I did I would end up looking for some Vikings or Normans who stole my ancient ancestors lands demanding some compensation.

Yeah that would be really complicated, but you are the only person on this thread going there. We are discussing how to present more realistic and factual information about the Thanksgiving story.

Most parents can anticipate the line of questioning that will follow such a conversation. So be prepared to answer the hard questions of what you plan to do about occupying stolen land. Then, enjoy your turkey dinner!

So instead, to avoid answering hard questions, you want everyone to pretend? Because that’s what the traditional Thanksgiving story is. It's pretend.

What giant babies you all are.

We are thankful for the food on our plates, our health, and look forward to the future. I don’t need a book to give me the answers. How ridiculous is that? Or you could just ipt out of thanksgiving all together its not required. Put your money where your mouth is if you have nothing to be thankful for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any way you tell it or re-tell it, the inevitable question must be: how can the land on which my house sits not be deemed stolen?

This is such a dead end argument. Land changes hands everywhere all the time since the beginning of time. This isn't unique to America.

Yes this. It isn’t racist it is survival of the fittest. Land is only yours if you have the means to keep it. Humans have been “taking” land from one another since the dawn of time, as does every other creature in the animal kingdom.

The above is a serious loser of an argument. Remember the 20th century?
social darwinism -> eugenics -> genocide

This whole exercise is futile. Nobody anywhere is going to give up their land, house, etc to whichever Native American tribe says to have owned it last. And then how can we be sure they were the one and only original habitants? How far back do we need to go and what proof would be needed? I'm not going to spend one second of time on Thanksgiving thinking about any of this. If I did I would end up looking for some Vikings or Normans who stole my ancient ancestors lands demanding some compensation.

Yeah that would be really complicated, but you are the only person on this thread going there. We are discussing how to present more realistic and factual information about the Thanksgiving story.

Most parents can anticipate the line of questioning that will follow such a conversation. So be prepared to answer the hard questions of what you plan to do about occupying stolen land. Then, enjoy your turkey dinner!

So instead, to avoid answering hard questions, you want everyone to pretend? Because that’s what the traditional Thanksgiving story is. It's pretend.

What giant babies you all are.

We are thankful for the food on our plates, our health, and look forward to the future. I don’t need a book to give me the answers. How ridiculous is that? Or you could just ipt out of thanksgiving all together its not required. Put your money where your mouth is if you have nothing to be thankful for.

Disagreeing with the whitewashing of history means I have nothing to be thankful for? I take it back. You're not a giant baby. You're a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any way you tell it or re-tell it, the inevitable question must be: how can the land on which my house sits not be deemed stolen?

This is such a dead end argument. Land changes hands everywhere all the time since the beginning of time. This isn't unique to America.

Yes this. It isn’t racist it is survival of the fittest. Land is only yours if you have the means to keep it. Humans have been “taking” land from one another since the dawn of time, as does every other creature in the animal kingdom.

The above is a serious loser of an argument. Remember the 20th century?
social darwinism -> eugenics -> genocide

This whole exercise is futile. Nobody anywhere is going to give up their land, house, etc to whichever Native American tribe says to have owned it last. And then how can we be sure they were the one and only original habitants? How far back do we need to go and what proof would be needed? I'm not going to spend one second of time on Thanksgiving thinking about any of this. If I did I would end up looking for some Vikings or Normans who stole my ancient ancestors lands demanding some compensation.

Yeah that would be really complicated, but you are the only person on this thread going there. We are discussing how to present more realistic and factual information about the Thanksgiving story.

Most parents can anticipate the line of questioning that will follow such a conversation. So be prepared to answer the hard questions of what you plan to do about occupying stolen land. Then, enjoy your turkey dinner!

So instead, to avoid answering hard questions, you want everyone to pretend? Because that’s what the traditional Thanksgiving story is. It's pretend.

What giant babies you all are.

We are thankful for the food on our plates, our health, and look forward to the future. I don’t need a book to give me the answers. How ridiculous is that? Or you could just ipt out of thanksgiving all together its not required. Put your money where your mouth is if you have nothing to be thankful for.

Disagreeing with the whitewashing of history means I have nothing to be thankful for? I take it back. You're not a giant baby. You're a moron.

Says the person who needs a book to talk to their kids. Maybe they can read it to you if you find one with the appropriate message to be thankful but not too thankful on your stolen lands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas for a book on the origin of Thanksgiving that doesnt contain problematic images/words/themes of the native Americans? (Or of the Pilgrims, I guess, but that seems to be less pervasive.)

Thanks!

As a history professor at GW I'm truly interested in what you consider racist about the retelling of the Thanksgiving story.

I hope you’re joking, as it is obviously a whitewashed story about cooperation and good harmony between pilgrims and Native Americans. Telling the story about the meal without context is racist.

So what do you think the Thanksgiving story is?

Yes, I’m curious too. Please state which parts of the commonly told “Thanksgiving story” are false and did not occur.

Historical events do not occur in a vacuum. One shared meal does not erase the death and destruction that colonists and Americans brought upon indigenous peoples of this country for the next 300 years. I’m raising my children to understand this about Thanksgiving, and I’m glad OP is interested in doing the same.