As we join our family and friends to celebrate a holiday that is uniquely American, let us take time to reflect on the true meaning and history of the Thanksgiving.
The first Thanksgiving was a time during our colonial days where the newly-arrived settlers along with the native American Indians came together to celebrate and share the fruit of the harvest. Irrespective of the color of their skin, their heritage, history, cultural, or ethnic uniqueness, they were grateful and thankful that they had planted and yielded great crops during, what was certain to be, difficult times in the early days of the founding of this country.
Native American Indians and the newly arrived immigrants shared in and celebrated a common humanity.
Through the centuries and across the generations that make up the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity that is quintessential America, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving. But has its meaning changed?
How much do we reach out to include people of different racial and ethnic origins in our Thanksgiving meals, celebrations, festivities? Has our own personal table narrowed or expanded when it comes to openly including and embracing the foods, traditions, and uniqueness from the celebration of others?
What a great opportunity to learn, to explore, to embrace and expand our understanding of the people and traditions that differ from our own. Who will you bring home for dinner? Or, where will you venture out to meet and share a meal unlike those you have shared in the past, or add something new to spice up a family tradition?
Growth requires us to step out beyond our comfort zones, taking chances to understand and be understood.
The early Pilgrims and the Native Americans did. And for a great time, they all were the better for it.
We can reclaim their spirit and make it even greater and more inclusive today — sharing the traditions of others in person or in conversation.
Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday!
Comments
The meaning of Thanksgiving
The meaning of Thanksgiving has definitely changed. It is no longer about diversity and inclusion. It is no longer about looking past those differences and be thankful for what we share. It is more about families being thankful for each other. That is fine, but we do not invite others to share this with us. It is about our family, a personal meeting and sharing with only each other. Also, everyone follows their own traditions.
However, some families embrace others. In my family, we bring in other friends of other ethnicities, races, religions, etc. We embrace our differences and share together traditions to make new ones. My table has expanded and we are always open to new foods, ideas and traditions.
Others see Thanksgiving as a time to loo past race, ethnicity and culture. It is a time to celebrate as people who have come together and learned from each other. I think that is something we need to rememeber on this day and share at our tables.
The point of Thanksgiving is to be thankful for others and what they have shared with us. We look past differences and embrace as one.
Sharing Traditions
I completely agree with the fact that we do not invite others to share the thanksgiving holiday we keep our traditions to our selves and do not change them in the least. I believe that we should embrace others, it should not just be about immediate family it should be shared with all loved ones together.
Folk Tales Are For Turkeys
I love Thanksgiving....dinner. It's the only time out of the year I eat turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mash potatoes on a single plate! But beyond that I do not identify with the 'spirit' of Thanksgiving as a historical event at all. It's a family tradition just like having an annual family barbecue in the summer is. I think if we try to look for a heartwarming story between the Pilgrims and Natives to link to the holiday of Thanksgiving we will be disappointed, because as history has shown us the Natives weren't received so warmly, despite their kindness. Besides, why do we need a holiday to remind us to appreciate our differences? We should be doing that on a regular basis anyway.
So in short, the point of Thanksgiving Day for me is to eat a unique meal and everyday, T Day included, I try to live the message we tell ourselves Thanksgiving is about.
Thanksgiving is more than food?
I think it is a great thing that the new settlers and natives were able to come together and have a feast celebrating the harvest in a hard time. If the natives happened to be white, I still think Thanksgiving would have the same meaning it does to most today. I have never thought of Thanksgiving as a time to reach out to others to make a more diverse table. However, I think any decent human being would reach out to another human to include them in a great meal for a day. I would not include affirmative action in my choosing seats at the table. I see the need to add those who don't have a family to go home to eat with as those that need to be added to my table, and i wouldn't see them as anything more than my family eating good food. I hope we all have a great day with anyone who would share our food. Happy Thanksgiving
We ought to remember
We ought to remember Thanksgiving as one of the few periods of cooperation between indigenous people and American colonialists. It is a shame to think that in the centuries since then, our interactions have been entirely about exploitation and minimizing their needs.
In a way, it's ironic. Thanksgiving is an American tradition, but do Native Americans celebrate it?
I'm not too sure on that one...
I'm not sure if Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. But recently I have had the opportunity to study the relations between Native Americans and colonists during that era. It was very interesting to see how whites did and still continue to attempt to rid the Indigenous of their own culture and convert them to whites ways.
But I think it is important to remember the time when whites and Indians shared that day together and look at that as an example of how we can act today.
Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year
I love Thanksgiving because with me in college and everyone else in my family being so busy, it is the one time we can all come together to eat and have fun. While the holiday has evolved since its inception, some of the main ideals have stayed the same. Ever since I can remember, my family has always made the holiday full of food, family and friends. The event is always held at our house and over the years, while the number of people and dishes might differ, the core love in the room always remains constant.
I definitely think that we could expand the people we invite and learn more about other cultures. One of my best friends invited our friend from Pakistan home for the holiday and I know that greatly enhanced both of their experiences. I would love to have a friend of a different race/ethnicity over next year because I would love for my family to broaden their horizons and learn more about what the holiday means for someone else.
Meaning of hoidays
I believe the meaning of holidays has unfortunately changed quite dramatically over the years. I believe our nation is overcome with consumerism and embracing their own wants instead of others. I believe Thanksgiving is a great time for families to take a break in their busy schedules and make time for their families. But rarely does anyone consider why we are giving thanks.
"Growth requires us to step out beyond our comfort zones, taking chances to understand and be understood." I love this! I believe it crucial for us to learn others cultures in order for us to grow. It is not always easy, but it is essential to our growth.
New Thanksgiving
I very much agree that Thanksgiving as well as much of our other holidays have been commercialized so much that we do not focus on what the true meanings are.
When I think of Thanksgiving I think of a whole day full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie; as well as family arguments, kids screaming, and counting down the minutes til I can eat and then go to my next Thanksgiving event.
Thanksgiving is supposed to be spent with family, friends, and loved ones joining together to have a meal in which you can reflect on all that you are thankful for this year. But this year (along with almost every year) I went from house to house throughout the day spending breakfast, lunch, supper, dinner, and dessert with different parts of my family and friends.
I don't think that race or ethnicity is really the issue, I think that we as Americans are very exclusive and think too much about the drama and politics of the holiday. Who cares if your mother doesn't get along with your aunt, you should spend the holiday together thankful that they are both alive and well. Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday so it can be spent with anyone and everyone!
Thanksgiving
Personallyy, I really enjoyed this article because it poses a simple question rather than attacking any one race or group of people. In my opinion, no the meaning of Thanksgiving has not changed. I think the way that some Americans celebrate it differs from others, but generally I think most people take some sort of time to think about, or reflect upon what they are thankful for, much like the natives and settlers did with the successful year of crops they experienced. I also think that rather than being thankful for food, the focus has changed to being thankful for family and friends, since in America most of us do not die of starvation. In other words, I don't think the meaning of Thanksgiving has been lost, but I do think some of the traditions have changed, but so has our country.
I believe Americans still
I believe Americans still remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It is not like the meaning of Christmas that gets over powered by the "perfect gift" to give. As families sit around the table, I believe they are thankful for each other as well as well as everything around them. If it weren't for all the different ethnicities and cultures, America would not be what it is today.
Meaning of Thanksgiving
I definitely think the meaning of Thanksgiving has changed. This is not true for everyone. For most Americans though and for those I know Thanksgiving is about family and food and not about a common humanity. I think that a great challenge for us to bring back the true meaning of Thanksgiving would be to have dinner with people who come from many different backgrounds. By doing this we can come together to understand and respect our differences so we can come together for a common humanity. if we can do this we can bring the true meaning back to Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving
I did not share my Thanksgiving with people from different ethnic backgrounds, but I did have members of my husbands estranged family over. I realize that it is not quite the same as sharing from a different ethnicity, but it was outside my comfort zone. Hopefully this step will result in stepping out my comfort zone a little more each time. I think its a great idea and should be part of a new tradition.
Giving of Thanks
I believe that most of us have the lost the true meaning behind the holidays, Thanksgiving being one of them. It seems as if holidays are just a way for big businesses to make money now a days. I think that it is important that Thanksgiving be one of the holidays that people should actually take the time out to reflect on the true meaning behind the holiday. The pilgrims could teach today’s society a valuable lesson because they were thankful for all they had regardless of skin color, race, heritage, ethnicity, etc. The Native Americans show a celebration of common humanity, something we need to learn to do today. If Thanksgiving was spent the way it should have been, allowing the opportunity to learn, explore, and embrace our understanding of others cultures, the world would be a better place. I definitely agree with the idea of stepping out of our comfort zones in order to understand and be understood.