The majority of Americans spend the last Thursday of November enjoying a grandiose turkey laid out on a dining room table surrounded by fluffy mashed potatoes with stuffing on the side. They are usually surrounded by family or friends, and take turns telling each other one thing they are thankful for that year.
Every year, that tradition or some form of it occurs, but, honestly, Thanksgiving is a futile holiday.
The premise of Thanksgiving is based on hate and genocide. The actual history of Thanksgiving is that Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate corn and make peace with their neighbors, the Wampanoag tribe. To celebrate their successful corn harvest, the Pilgrims had a grand feast and invited neighboring Native American allies, such as the Wampanoag tribe.
However, that history is not presented in schools, and is instead, glorified into this sunny, peaceful relationship. Thanksgiving makes it appear that the relationship between Native Americans and European Colonizers was nice and peaceful, masking the tens of thousands of deaths of Native Americans.
Apart from glorifying the dark history of Native Americans, Thanksgiving gives the impression it is okay to only be thankful one day out of the year. People should be thankful for all of their privileges throughout the entire year. They should want to help those less fortunate almost every day of every year at every chance they get. It is selfish to take one day out of the year, whether Thanksgiving or Christmas, to decide to give back to the community.
Thanksgiving, and any popular holiday such as Christmas, brings people, whether family or friends, together. That is normal for holidays, but family gatherings should not only occur around holiday times. Only gathering during the holidays shows people only care about their loved ones when it comes to not being alone during the season. Some people are super busy during the year, which is understandable but finding any time out of the year, besides the holidays, to spend time with friends or family, shows compassion.
Parades, large feasts, great discount deals and massive thank-you’s surround this holiday. The holiday was only proclaimed a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. There is no reason to stop celebrating the holiday if it is part of normal family tradition, but people should not push their traditions onto someone else. At the end of the day, everyone has their own traditions. However, this holiday, along with others, is a form of capitalism at its best work.
Iana Fields is a freshman studying english creative writing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Iana? Tweet her @FieldsIana.
