Why People Are Cancelling Thanksgiving Day?

It is that time of the year when families gather and hog on that scrumptious Thanksgiving Day casserole. It is a day to express gratitude and spend quality time with family having conversations, preparing a turkey and mashed potatoes meal, and watching sports. However, the first celebration of the festival was different than the modern interpretation.

The current culture is way different. Along with the culture, the context and circumstances were different when it was first celebrated. Today, one may enjoy Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. But, the tragic beginning of what later turned out to be a hopeful future is the narrative today. This narrative has always been promoted. Nevertheless, very recently, due to the increasing racial violence, discrimination, and mere tokenism, many people are protesting to not celebrate the day. Why are people canceling it?

Also Read: What Is The History Of Thanksgiving? Why Do We Celebrate It?

How Did Thanksgiving Day Come Into Place?

Puritans, who are called pilgrims, came to the land and founded the Plymouth Colony along with Anglican colonizers. They were supposed to land on Virginian land, but their voyage failed and they anchored at Cape Cod. Due to their failed voyage, they were all by themselves away from their companions in the already-established colony of Jamestown. They came in 1620 with scarce resources to survive. The people stole food, and crops and ate food near graves. They also sometimes resorted to cannibalism.

In a year, many passengers who boarded the ship for the voyage died. Fortunately, Samoset, a tribesman from the Eastern Abenaki (modern-day Maine) and a native helped introduce them to the chief of the Wampanoag Confederacy Ousamequin. He ordered Tisquantum from the Patuxet tribe to teach natives their sustenance. In 1621, after losing their co-passengers, the settlers grew their first harvest. It was the first recorded instance of the celebration.

Also Read: Top 10 Thanksgiving Movies Of All Time

Why Are People Cancelling The Day?

The above narrative was unknown to people till 1841. It was when Robert Kushman’s ‘Mourt’s Relations’ and William Bradford’s ‘Of Plymouth Plantation’ became mainstream they got to know about the history as it mentioned the 1621 episode. This narrative was popularly driven. But, today people have become more sensitized about another narrative due to another episode that took place two years after the Puritans’ first harvest.

Today, Native Americans are at the forefront to face the brunt of climate change, displacement, and poor living conditions. Along with the government, the past colonizers too had a significant contribution to the deterioration of the conditions of the Natives. Another chapter of a second harvest given in Bradford’s book chronicles a ruthless acquisition of Natives’ land by new colonizers. After 1621, there was an influx of new settlers in North America.

It was peaceful due to a treaty between the Wampanoag chief and the Puritan settlers’ chief, John Carver. But, after the Wampanoag chief’s death, the tribes in the colonies faced misery. The new settlers shooed them away from their lands, or the tribes sold their lands due to the extreme conditions. As New England was increasingly colonized, the tribes retaliated against them for destroying their culture and heritage. A war was fought where the tribes were defeated, murdered, or the survivors worked as slaves. After the war, Massachusetts Bay Company celebrated its victory in the war by observing a Thanksgiving feast.

Only going to say this once, anybody who politicizes Thanksgiving by comparing Native Americans and Pilgrims to Liberals/Dems and Conservatives/GOP can go fuck themselves. As one of the few people in this world who can legit claim to share blood with Tisquantum, I don't want 1/2

— Josh Aker (Aurelian/Feral Wolf) 🐀 (@Aurelian_Wolf) November 26, 2020

"Instead of bringing stuffing and biscuits, those settlers brought genocide and violence," Gyasi Ross says about the history of American Thanksgiving. "That genocide and violence is still on the menu." pic.twitter.com/DLkocjrdqV

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 20, 2021

Today, due to this reason, many people have protested against the celebration of the festival. It marks the deceit of the settlers towards the natives, who assisted them in their sustenance. Many natives, too, got aware of this harsh treatment and they stopped celebrating it. Often the conservatives have slammed liberals for running this narrative to protest the celebration of the festival.

Omg! Liberals HATE thanksgiving! I mean…I’m not even sure they eat, let alone have families. Honestly Marsh, are we sure they’re even human? What if they’re from…….ANOTHER PLANET???

— Ryan Weinstein (@CoffinPrick) November 9, 2022

Also Read: Why Does Jake Peralta a.k.a Andy Samberg Hates Thanksgivings?