Thanksgiving is a day when theoretically Americans sit down with family and friends and give thanks for all of the blessings we have received.<\/p>\n
The Encyclopedia Britannica<\/a> describes the holiday as follows:<\/p>\n Plymouth\u2019s Thanksgiving began with a few colonists going out \u201cfowling,\u201d possibly for turkeys but more probably for the easier prey of geese and ducks, since they \u201cin one day killed as much as\u2026served the company almost a week.\u201d Next, 90 or so Wampanoag made a surprise appearance at the settlement\u2019s gate, doubtlessly unnerving the 50 or so colonists. Nevertheless, over the next few days the two groups socialized without incident. The Wampanoag contributed venison<\/a> to the feast, which included the fowl and probably fish<\/a>, eels<\/a>, shellfish<\/a>, stews, vegetables<\/a>, and beer<\/a>. Since Plymouth had few buildings and manufactured goods, most people ate outside while sitting on the ground or on barrels<\/a> with plates on their laps. The men fired guns<\/a>, ran races, and drank liquor<\/a>, struggling to speak in broken English and Wampanoag. This was a rather disorderly affair, but it sealed a treaty between the two groups that lasted until King Philip\u2019s War<\/a> (1675\u201376)…<\/strong><\/p>\n The Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in November. Massachusetts in November is not a hospitable place, and it goes downhill from there until about May. The fact that any of them survived is amazing. They\u00a0 had a lot to be thankful for.<\/p>\n However, the story of the Pilgrims has been rewritten by some of the media.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Breitbart<\/a> reported the following:<\/p>\n MSNBC\u2019s Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show \u201cThe ReidOut\u201d that she believed Republicans want to portray Thanksgiving as a \u201csimplistic fairytale\u201d to cover up for America being founded on \u201cviolence\u201d and \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n She continued, \u201cBut it is also to unpack the myth of Thanksgiving. It is a holiday riddled with historical inaccuracies. It is built on this myth that the indigenous welcomed their colonizers with open arms and ears of corn. A simplistic fairytale interpretation of a 1621 encounter between indigenous tribes and English settlers that erases the genocide that followed. It\u2019s the truth that Republicans want banned from our textbooks. Because here is the secret they want so desperately to keep, we are a country founded on violence. Our birth was violent. In 1619, a ship with more than 20 enslaved Africans landed in Virginia, ushering in two centuries of American slavery that left millions in chains or dead. When those humans in bondage were finally free, a terrorist organization that was a card-carrying member of polite society, The Ku Klux Klan, picked up where the Civil War ended using violence to maintain white supremacy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Reid added, \u201cThe Klan is still active, and as Americans, we continue to choose violence. We are a country that chooses violence over and over again. There is no facet of American society that is untouched by it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I guess she can be thankful that she lives in a country that gives her the freedom to say that. However, I challenge her to find a better place to live where she could enjoy the success she has had in America.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thanksgiving is a day when theoretically Americans sit down with family and friends and give thanks for all of the blessings we have received. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the holiday as follows: Plymouth\u2019s Thanksgiving began with a few colonists going … Continue reading