Let Us Celebrate Thanksgiving Properly

[Soylent Brice]

With Thanksgiving upon us tomorrow, let us not forget to celebrate the reason why we should be thankful.

In celebration of our triumph of genocide, let's give thanks to all those that came as pioneers and paved the way for our "success" as a nation.

We'll begin with the increase in the slave trade due to the voyages of Columbus:

http://www.afbis.com/analysis/slave.htm

We'll continue with the rape, enslavement, and slaughter at the hands of Columbus and his brother:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno

The Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote (1561) in his multivolume History of the Indies: <31>

There were 60,000 people living on this island , including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this?



Then we'll fast forward a little:

"We now also know that the Indians were intentionally exposed to smallpox by Europeans. The discovery of gold in California, early in 1848, prompted American migration and expansion into the west. The greed of Americans for money and land was rejuvenated with the Homestead Act of 1862. In California and Texas there was blatant genocide of Indians by non-Indians during certain historic periods. In California, the decrease from about a quarter of a million to less than 20,000 is primarily due to the cruelties and wholesale massacres perpetrated by the miners and early settlers."

http://www.iearn.org/hgp/aeti/aeti-1997/native-americans.html

Let's not forget the pièce de résistance:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html

I could spend the rest of the week posting links...

My point is, this is not white guilt, but rather an affirmation of our hypocrisy. To pretend to promote any kind of peace and democracy, while simultaneously hiding our blood-soaked hands behind our backs is a farce. To have a holiday in remembrance of probably the only act of civility in our nation's history towards Natives in this country makes a little ill.

Have we learned from our mistakes?

The answer:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11casualties.html

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/09/07/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-airstrikes

Again, I could go on and on.

Have we not just become what we hate, but have we always been what we hate? For all the good we have done does is it negated by our malevolent acts towards humanity?

A question to ponder while eating ourselves to oblivion while flipping through 100 channels of football on demand, and reaching for the Tums.

Should I have had that third piece of pumpkin pie?

Who are the real terrorists?




edit: for grammar

[slackmaster]

1. What about the Children?

Have you forgotten about them already?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4534739

[Soylent Brice]

2. i see

there will be quite a bit of difference this year, but that doesn't mean the gluttony will be gone all together.

tradition is a powerful thing to overcome.

[slackmaster]

14. Do you have something against fat people?

Gluttony is a great American tradition.

[Soylent Brice]

19. HA!!!

are you trying to bait me??

lol

[slackmaster]

20. Yes, of course I am

It's my job.

Welcome to DU.

[Soylent Brice]

22. YAY!!

thanks.

been a member since '06, lurking since '04.

i know the likes of your kind... lol

don't post much, but i try. more of an information junkie.

thanks for the warm welcome!!

[TahitiNut]

3. Weren't monarchies terrific?

Gotta love hereditary entitlements.

[Soylent Brice]

13. that's one way of putting it.

doesn't seem as though the monarchies have really disappeared though. dynasties still lurk, under different guises.

[ben_meyers]

4. Me, I'm going to the traditional Thanksgiving Feast at

the Gila River Indian Community, New Lone Butte Casino . Best Thanksgiving buffet in Phoenix.

Woooo Hoooo! Just in time for the HOLIDAYS

The New Lone Butte Casino Opens in Chandler

Chandler, AZ - Luck has a new home! The all-new Lone Butte Casino is opening, bigger and better, with more games, great dining, and fabulous entertainment. Lone Butte Casino unveils its newly constructed facility to the public on November 20th with ongoing celebrations and promotions into the month of December.
In its newly constructed 120,000 square feet of space, Lone Butte Casino will offer 850 of the newest and most exciting slots, 24 Las Vegas-style blackjack and Pai Gow tables, a state-of-the-art 750-seat Bingo Hall, and a High Limit Gaming Area offering privacy and comfort.


Lone Butte Casino is one of the region's premier entertainment destinations. Owned and operated by the Gila River Indian Community, Lone Butte Casino is easy to find, just off Loop 202, the Santan Freeway at 1077 South Kyrene Road. The new casino is one mile east of the previous Lone Butte Casino.

[Soylent Brice]

7. i used to live out there.

i lived in Maricopa which is right next to the Ak Chin and Gila River Reservations.

I lived literally 2 minutes from Harrah's Casino. It's really nice out there, sea of new homes.

Ironically, most of which is a tombf of unfinished suburbs.

[Marrah_G]

5. Hmmmm

I never know what to do with these posts.

My family came over to Plymouth colony, the first in 1643. They still live today in Plymouth/Kingston.

My great grandmother was Native American.

Without either I would not be here.

History is sad and we need to learn from our mistakes, but we cannot change it. It comes with the good and the bad, the positives and the negatives. So it is with people, cultures and races. There is good and bad, ying and yang, in everything. (crap now I sound like a song)

Rather then hate the entire history I try to teach my children to learn from the past, keep the good, avoid the bad.

[Soylent Brice]

10. that's cool about your heritage

unfortunately most can't say the same about theirs.

i agree about teaching the past. i hate a lot of things about the past but don't harp on it. this particular aspect of history always hits a nerve with me though.

not sure why.

i remember in first grade wondering, well if we were all peaceful with the natives and had this awesome dinner, why don't i see any natives now?

that's when i slowly began to realize most of everything you're taught about history in school is bullshit.

i've done a lot of research about this subject. it just pisses me off that most of the public are either not aware of it, don't care, or are happy it happened that way. this is my yearly rant. usually it happens in the middle of thanksgiving dinner. my wife has asked me to vent elsewhere this year. lol

[JuniperLea]

38. We could be related...

Mary Chilton is my 11th great-grandmother. We all heard the stories from my great-grandmother about how "our people met our people at Plymoth Rock" but didn't really give it too much thought. All families have their stories, right? Well, my grandmother got in touch with the LDS in Salt Lake City and had our geneology traced... granny was right. We were all pretty shocked that our family "legend" was true. There were enough of us who looked very American Indian that it was never doubted, but we did some research there too.

I'm very conflicted as well. My people haven't treated my people too kindly...


Whitecloud


Waldron and Orr

[jmg257]

6. Wow - you must be a blast at a party! No guilt here, please pass the turkey! nt

[slackmaster]

15. I'll bet Soilent eats Tofurkey

:hide:

[Soylent Brice]

18. HA!

NEVER!!!

actually i eat chili every thanksgiving. not sure why. i'm not really a fan of turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes/etc.

[jmg257]

26. Hmm...chili! Good choice - though not over turkey/stuffing/'tators with GRAVY!! Now I know what to

make on Sunday though!

[Soylent Brice]

27. yeah, chili is one of those things

that just never get old for me for some reason. i have to make 2 batches though. one for the family, and one for me.

mine usually induces vomiting from the overload of hotness/spiciness. lol

not too pleasant for the rest of that week either...

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. Dark meat for me! Pass the mashed potatoes!

People who hate certain holidays should go to work on those days.

And me, a card-carrying, tribal roll number possessing member of the Cherokee Tribe. I should be ashamed of myself.

Except I'm not. I even had a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner with my relatives on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Tahlequah, OK as a kid. Go figure.

[Soylent Brice]

21. that's a good point about working those holidays

i would, but the university is closed. the wifey and i are going to a homeless shelter in Clifton tomorrow morning to help them with the dinner set up.

usually do something of that nature, as the doors at work usually remained locked for holidays. lol

[Alter Ego]

8. Seeing as how my ancestors were goat farmers in fucking ITALY

at the time, I'm not that fussed.

[jmg257]

9. You MUST feel guilt - Columbus was Italian don't ya know? nt

[Alter Ego]

11. Italians have enough to be ashamed of now without Columbus

adding to the mix. You know, what with the horribly racist Prime Minister welcoming the "suntanned" Obama to the world stage.

[mitchum]

37. I thought you meant that recent DeNiro/Pacino movie

[Soylent Brice]

12. it's not about guilt, just awareness

this isn't meant to be preachy to those on this board who are perfectly aware of the past. DU is my outlet for a lot of venting and to bounce ideas, or to absorb info.

jokes are jokes, so i'm cool with the comments.

[jmg257]

24. Fair enough. And understand the venting too! Cheers! nt

[slackmaster]

16. Mine were Mennonite farmers in western Germany, on my father's side

They got kicked out by Catholics, then moved to Prussia and got kicked out by someone, then to Russia where they got kicked out by Katherine the Great.

In all these threads about how the Native Americans were oppressed by Europeans, nobody ever mentions the people who preceded those Native Americans and were kicked out or killed off by them.

Eurpoean expatriate guilt can lead to a very slippery slope, if you take the time to think about it.

[Soylent Brice]

23. interesing view

just out of curiosity (always looking to learn something new) can you elaborate on the history of those who preceded the Natives?

[Marrah_G]

25. Sandia, Clovis and Folsom people

But native tribes have always fought with each other. No person alive has an ancestral heritage free of any sort of violence over resources.

Perhaps someday Humans will evolve past that particular trait.

[Soylent Brice]

29. do you have any good links with info

i keep searching and all i can find is that they were paleo-indians with nifty spear points, apparently the first widespread native culture, and big-game hunters. i may be overlooking some good sites.

[Marrah_G]

30. I watch alot of history, science, discovery and national geographic...hehe

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-first-americans.html

here is some.

We all came from somewhere, where we came from somewhere, and backwards and backwards.....

[Soylent Brice]

34. excellent! thank you!

[slackmaster]

33. The paleo-Indians were of course also natives, and not much is known about them

The term generally refers to whoever was here at the end of the most recent Ice Age.

[Morning Dew]

28. Most of my ancestors

came here in the late 1800s escaping the great lutefisk blight. Ok, there wasn't a lutefisk blight.

They were, however, mostly Scandinavians, post Civil War immigrants. They were hard working and dirt poor - no one got past high school until my generation.
I hear tales of a lone Welshman who arrived here in time to fight in Mr. Lincoln's army - but I can't be sure.

Parts of our history are pretty shameful but I don't feel a lot of personal guilt over it.

[Soylent Brice]

31. i do to an extent

my ancestors have been here since the mid 18th century.

one of the first was Aaron Blunk. fought at the battle of Vincennes i think. from what we have in the old family tree, we weren't exactly the kindest towards natives.

i don't feel a lot of personal guilt so much as the sadness from things in our history not being taught widespread, and truthfully, in public schools.

it's doing our youth a disservice. how are we to learn from our mistakes. look what we've done to the world in the last few decades.

[dugaresa]

32. at one point people were either the conquerors or the conquered ...

it isn't limited to the US.

The key is to learn from history and what I have learned is that people don't like to learn which is why we keep repeating history over and over and over again...

The Egyptians enslaved people, built vast empires and even documented these events in the tombs of their kings and queens...There are pictures of folks like Ramses II smiting his enemies to take land or retain it.

Then they got conquered eventually....

The Romans, the Visgigoths and their buddies...the Vikings, the English, the French...the Pope and his bloody Crusades...The Ottomans...etc

proof we aren't much different from people thousands of years ago...and we don't seem to be evolving to a peaceful state either and that is sad but there are folks who are trying...

I say it is better to try and learn and move forward than to become embroiled and bitter over the past....so at Thanksgiving I will give thanks for my friends and family and I will encourage those present to try and be a force for peace and change in our country and abroad...that is the best we can do.

[Soylent Brice]

35. indeed,

and well said.

[cobalt1999]

36. My ancestors came over in exile from a failed attempt to oust England from Scotland.

Furthermore, no one reading this board was involved in any of those things. So stop with the "OUR" & "WE" shit. I'm not buying your guilt trip.

A few examples in your post

...OUR hypocrisy
...OUR malevolent acts towards humanity
...OUR blood-soaked hands
...OUR triumph of genocide


Unless you participated and have a mouse in your pocket don't use the word WE, OUR, or US.

[Soylent Brice]

40. wow

i love it when people think they know more about what i'm thinking than i do.

your comment is welcome, just the same. :)

[superduperfarleft]

39. Excellent post. Thank you. n/t

[Soylent Brice]

41. thank you!

:)

i try. lol

[flvegan]

42. Sometimes reality hits like a sledge. Thanks.

I do enjoy my time with family, time off of work and football. Not so much the reason nor the idea of a mass celebration staged around the carcass of a roasted decomposing tortured animal.

[Soylent Brice]

43. nice imagery

lol

i enjoy the time with my family as well, any time i can get with them is a good thing. reasons for it suck though.

i wish they had a holiday for family. like Family Day, or something to that extent. that'd be nice.

[Berry Cool]

44. Who cares about "reasons"?

Take the opportunity that presents itself. You choose your own reason for celebrating. You don't have to accept anyone else's.

For many people--those who don't obsess on historical guilt--Thanksgiving IS "Family Day."