Should Thanksgiving Be Cancelled?

Who would possibly suggest that Thanksgiving be canceled?

The answer to that question is "NOT ME!".

I read a report in USA Today about how for some Native Americans/Indigenous people Thanksgiving is actually a day of mourning and a reminder of attempted genocide. These are some very strong reactions and I hope we can get past them. I say that not to minimize those feelings, but only because there's no way to undo what's been done.

I had to take a step back mentally and remember what I was taught about Thanksgiving. It was supposed to be a gesture of friendship between the indigenous people and the pilgrims. I'm not going to deny that from that point things went south quickly, but I am going to say that the original thought is pure and worthwhile.

I would not be averse to more real Native American history being taught. I think a lot of kids would find it fascinating to study and give us all a wider understanding of who we are and how we got here. I have no problem placing the bad alongside what is viewed as the good, but the question here is, is the Thanksgiving "lesson" in itself bad?

Thanksgiving, through the modern eye, is all about family, friendship, and being thankful. Those lessons need to be taught. I would gladly toss the entire holiday in the dumpster if it could undo some of the damage we've done to our Native Americans, but that isn't going to help. The best we can do at this time is to try to live up to the ideals that we thought Thanksgiving was about.