I know this isn't a Midwestern story, but in case you have not heard about it yet, a school in Claremont, California caved in to some oversensitive parent over an annual Thanksgiving celebration held at Condit Elementary School (not to be confused with former congressman Gary Condit I hope) by kindergartners:
The parent at the center of the controversy is Michelle Raheja, a university professor (of course!) of English who specializes in Native American literature. Raheja's mother is a Seneca Indian, and finds the annual custom offensive and said,
"It's demeaning, I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history."
Now while any thinking person must admit that Native Americans were not treated well by later, successive European (broadly speaking) settlers, by all historical accounts, the New England settlers of Plymouth in 1621 held a common feast with the Wampanoag Indian tribe as neighbors, not as slaves and masters nor as an occupying army. In fact, the Pilgrims were Calvinists who came to the shores of what we now call America for refuge from England's policies of religious discrimination against non-Anglicans.
While things were not perfect between the early New England settlers and the Native Americans, they cannot be fairly compared to the Nazis and Jews or the slaves and their masters of the 17 and 1800s in this country - that's just ideological bombast. It is also worth noting the Native tribes were the majority population of the land at the time and the New England settlers lived to some degree at the Indian's pleasure as they could have been done away with at any time as they were in a clear minority of numbers.
It is a sad thing that this well-meaning (but misguided) person cannot accept this holiday for what it is - a holiday meant to promote thankfulness to God for His providence toward us and also of neighborliness to those around us. It is also really not fair to take a holiday which is meant to bring us together and make it an occasion of division. If you want to debate the finer points of what happened to Native American people over the succeeding years, especially during the westward expansion and so forth that is one thing but please do not take a holiday of goodwill and make it into a platform for something it isn't. It's like taking Christmas and using it as a platform for the evils committed during the Catholic Inquisition or the Salem With Trials, which happened a long time ago.
It is also worth noting that what is done is done and it cannot be undone. History is full of winners and losers and the atrocities they have committed against one another but after a while you have to accept the results and move on. The U.S. Federal government isn't going to fold and pack up any time soon and ask all of us who are not Native Americans to 'move back' to Europe. Since most of us are 'Heinz 57' Americans, people of mixed national backgrounds, such a program would be highly problematic.
Maybe what Professor Raheja needs to learn is that America, while having Anglo-European and Christian traditions is still a country that is not held together by ethnicity or religion but by an idea of Liberty - and that includes freedom from the bondage of the past. Our last election has proven that anyone can succeed, regardless of ethnicity, creed or color and a holiday that celebrates unity should not be a platform for opening the wounds of past tragedies.
Some useful and interesting links on Thanksgiving:
The Holiday Spot: A History of Thanksgiving
The History of Thanksgiving: The History Channel
Thanksgiving: Wikipedia
The First Thanksgiving: Christian Science Monitor
Plimouth Plantation: 1627 English Village
Plimouth Plantation: Wampanoag Homesite
Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
1863 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln
1941 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by FDR
1981 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Ronald Reagan
2008 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by George W. Bush
TTFN,
Jim
"It's demeaning, I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history."
Now while any thinking person must admit that Native Americans were not treated well by later, successive European (broadly speaking) settlers, by all historical accounts, the New England settlers of Plymouth in 1621 held a common feast with the Wampanoag Indian tribe as neighbors, not as slaves and masters nor as an occupying army. In fact, the Pilgrims were Calvinists who came to the shores of what we now call America for refuge from England's policies of religious discrimination against non-Anglicans.
While things were not perfect between the early New England settlers and the Native Americans, they cannot be fairly compared to the Nazis and Jews or the slaves and their masters of the 17 and 1800s in this country - that's just ideological bombast. It is also worth noting the Native tribes were the majority population of the land at the time and the New England settlers lived to some degree at the Indian's pleasure as they could have been done away with at any time as they were in a clear minority of numbers.
It is a sad thing that this well-meaning (but misguided) person cannot accept this holiday for what it is - a holiday meant to promote thankfulness to God for His providence toward us and also of neighborliness to those around us. It is also really not fair to take a holiday which is meant to bring us together and make it an occasion of division. If you want to debate the finer points of what happened to Native American people over the succeeding years, especially during the westward expansion and so forth that is one thing but please do not take a holiday of goodwill and make it into a platform for something it isn't. It's like taking Christmas and using it as a platform for the evils committed during the Catholic Inquisition or the Salem With Trials, which happened a long time ago.
It is also worth noting that what is done is done and it cannot be undone. History is full of winners and losers and the atrocities they have committed against one another but after a while you have to accept the results and move on. The U.S. Federal government isn't going to fold and pack up any time soon and ask all of us who are not Native Americans to 'move back' to Europe. Since most of us are 'Heinz 57' Americans, people of mixed national backgrounds, such a program would be highly problematic.
Maybe what Professor Raheja needs to learn is that America, while having Anglo-European and Christian traditions is still a country that is not held together by ethnicity or religion but by an idea of Liberty - and that includes freedom from the bondage of the past. Our last election has proven that anyone can succeed, regardless of ethnicity, creed or color and a holiday that celebrates unity should not be a platform for opening the wounds of past tragedies.
Some useful and interesting links on Thanksgiving:
The Holiday Spot: A History of Thanksgiving
The History of Thanksgiving: The History Channel
Thanksgiving: Wikipedia
The First Thanksgiving: Christian Science Monitor
Plimouth Plantation: 1627 English Village
Plimouth Plantation: Wampanoag Homesite
Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
1863 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln
1941 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by FDR
1981 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Ronald Reagan
2008 Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by George W. Bush
TTFN,
Jim
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