I have been dreaming of Thanksgiving for weeks. All the delicious food, enjoyment, and getting the family together for fellowship and joy! But today the progressive liberals are demanding Thanksgiving go from feast to funeral! No joke! Look at it this way. As turkey is carved and cranberry sauce simmers in kitchens nationwide, the spirit of Thanksgiving, once a beacon of gratitude and unity, is being eclipsed by a grim reimagining.
Progressive educators have transformed what started as a harvest celebration between Pilgrims and Wampanoag in 1621 into a "Day of Mourning." Universities and school districts from coast to coast are "decolonizing" the holiday, urging students to swap pumpkin pie for protest signs and family toasts for talks of genocide! OMG!
In this era of relentless DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) mandates, thankfulness feels like a relic, replaced by a narrative of unrelenting victimhood. Thankful for nothing?
- The University of California, Davis, the California History-Social Science Project—ostensibly a K-12 resource hub—hosted a Zoom webinar titled "Decolonizing Thanksgiving in the Classroom." Organizers promised to "reframe classroom practices and rituals," centering "Turtle Island" (an Indigenous term for North America) to "spark new conversations." Translation: Ditch the feel-good myths of cooperation and cooperation; insert lectures on colonial theft.
In a recent interview, Steve Eichler, JD, founder of the Patriot Command Center, said this: “This isn't education; it's indoctrination disguised as empathy, training young minds to view their heritage through a lens of perpetual grievance.”
- Washington University in St. Louis, no stranger to DEI controversies, spotlighted an event "honoring" diverse Thanksgiving interpretations, from historical "disruptions" to modern "equitable practices."
It's a slick pivot: acknowledge the holiday's "colonial roots" while promoting systemic overhaul.
You are not going to believe this!
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) escalated the rhetoric with its "4th Annual Thanksgiving Myth-Busting" gathering. Students were encouraged to rent cars for a pilgrimage to Plymouth Rock, site of the Mayflower's landing, to join the National Day of Mourning (NDOM) rally. The itinerary? A screening of Buffy the Vampire Slayer alongside dissections of "narratives justifying land grabs via colonialism." An MIT spokesperson downplayed it as free expression, insisting the university remains closed for the holiday. But when student groups hijack a national break for ideological road trips, it's hard to see the activity as mere extracurricular fun.
Public schools aren't immune.
- University of Massachusetts branded Thursday outright as a "Day of Mourning," detailing on its DEI site how the event "dispels myths" about the first Thanksgiving and spotlights "ongoing struggles" of Native tribes.
- Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico, in a November Indigenous Education update, bluntly stated: Many Natives "do not celebrate" because it's a "reminder of the genocide of millions, the appropriation of Native lands, and the erasure of Indigenous cultures."
- Berkeley Unified School District in California echoed this in its "Rethinking Thanksgiving Teaching Guide," probing the holiday's "painful legacy" and "nuanced perspectives"—code for mourning over merriment.
- University of Maryland's School of Public Policy chimed in with "Harvesting the Truth: Colonial Disruptions of Indigenous Food Systems & the Myths of Thanksgiving," framing the feast as a symbol of stolen sovereignty.
These initiatives, cloaked in compassion, erode the holiday's core: gratitude for survival and shared abundance. As Paul Runko of Defending Education astutely notes, Thanksgiving "is meant to bring people together, not divide students or cast blame over heritage." George Washington proclaimed it in 1789 to celebrate national blessings; presidents ever since have echoed that call to reflect with thanks.
Yet here we are, 236 years later, with educators turning tables into tribunals. Families gather amid this cultural crossfire, torn between cherished rituals and school-sanctioned sorrow. Is there room for both truths—the Pilgrims' peril and the Wampanoag's wisdom? Absolutely.
A godless people are thankful to nobody and for nothing!
Final Word: Gratitude isn't erasure; it's the glue holding us together. As for me and my family, we will bow in prayer and thank G*d for His grace on this great land and the rich blessing He has bestowed upon us.
Replies