The War on Thanksgiving

As the weather turns colder, the thoughts of many Americans turn to Christmas. And many of us once again take up arms against the forces of liberalism, political correctness, and secularization that wage war on Christmas.

Traditionalists have already written articles pointing out that everything from Starbucks cups to seasonal banners are part of an agenda to undermine the true meaning of Christmas. In the past, when Wal-Mart and Sears eliminated Christmas-specific language from their marketing, they were met with boycotts. Last month, President Trump promised to return “Merry Christmas” to public discourse, but faced a backlash after he invited reporters to a “holiday reception,” suggesting that he was going back on his word. When it comes to Christmas, every American is held to account.

But the multicultural legions are waging war on another national holiday, and if they win, there are even more serious implications for white American culture. Those who answer the call to arms on behalf of Christmas are strangely absent in this “forgotten war:” the war on Thanksgiving.

I have not always paid attention to critiques of Thanksgiving. I knew that some people didn’t much like the holiday, but always assumed it was because of personal reasons; it never occurred to me that Thanksgiving might be under “attack.” However, a recent American Renaissance podcast pointed out that any national holiday that encourages Americans to view a white national figure or a white chapter of our history with anything other than shame is a threat to the leftist agenda. Multiculturalists protest any occasion on which white Americans experience a moment of unity or pride.

This season, I have read and listened carefully to the commentary on Thanksgiving. Negative sentiments are echoed loudly by politicians and the press, while positive elements are minimized. I find the same efforts to widen the distance between us and our white ancestors that are so common in liberal analysis of Columbus Day.

Just in the past few days, the mainstream media have complained that Thanksgiving is, at best, a gluttonous pregame to the consumerist frenzy of Black Friday, and, at worst, a “whitewashing” of the genocide of everyone from the Indians to the Vietnamese. The authors pay grudging homage to the beautiful story of the First Thanksgiving — but usually only to insist that it was invented as a “distraction” from the horrors that later befell the Indians, or to warn that any appreciation for this convivial meal between the English and Wampanoags is a tacit endorsement of white supremacy.

For every article that maligns Thanksgiving’s history, there is another one bemoaning its celebration in the present. Advice on how to deal with this “dreadful” holiday includes making dressing with “chestnuts and Xanax” to take the edge off of a “certified bummer,” or refusing to attend your husband’s family’s dinner rather than make the “herculean” effort of putting up with his parents for a day. Hashtags such as #HowToAvoidPoliticsAtDinner reinforce the presumption that Thanksgiving is marked with conflict and disagreement, rather than unity and gratitude. The idea seems to be that colonists and natives could endure each other’s utterly foreign cultures with more civility than modern American families can endure their own relatives.

If Thanksgiving’s history is so malignant, and its modern manifestation so unpleasant, why celebrate it at all? Each person who falls victim to this propaganda represents a victory for multiculturalism, and a loss for white history, as another piece of American identity dissolves into the “melting pot.”

Americans who defend Christmas do not show the same loyalty to Thanksgiving. Some of us are even guilty of reveling in the negativity to indulge the wry humor typical of our movement. On my own social media accounts, I have found posts by white advocates who are looking forward to “triggering” their liberal relatives, or who plan to bring up the sexual-assault epidemic that is plaguing the Left. Just yesterday, right-wing Twitter promoted a recipe for “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Turkey” as evidence of how far our civilization has fallen. Don’t they realize they are helping draw more attention to a mockery of an American tradition?

We cannot afford to contribute, even indirectly, to the ridicule of one of our national customs for the sake of a few laughs. America is still a very young nation, and our culture is fragile. It is still in its formative state and, for decades now, has been fending off an internal insurrection from those who wish to deny us the right to the land we settled and the society we built.

Canadian videoblogger Lauren Southern, who is sympathetic to “pro-Western” ideas, has said that while Europe’s long history grants its people indisputable claims to their nations, America’s short history makes her skeptical of our right to resist dispossession. There are echoes of her skepticism in the common assertions that “there is no American culture” and that America is a “proposition nation.” (For a good rebuttal of these myths, see Samuel Huntington’s Who Are We?: The Challenges to America’s National Identity.)

At a time when white American culture is threatened, we cannot discount or take for granted a single precious part of our history. Our enemies remove monuments, rename buildings, and strip our communities of any reminder of the Confederacy. The Left has now turned its guns on the Founding Fathers, and would like to wipe the memories of these “dead white men” from our history books. We should muster the same fighting spirit we’ve shown when Christmas is under attack to defend Thanksgiving, which is a holiday that distinguishes us from all other European peoples.

Maybe until now, you haven’t much cared for Thanksgiving. But even if you see it as something you must endure to get through to Christmas, try to embrace it as something uniquely ours, to be treasured and defended.

President Washington gave us this holiday in 1789, to honor the “Almighty’s care of Americans prior to the Revolution, assistance to them in achieving independence, and help in establishing the constitutional government.” Let us honor the celebration our Founders left to us and ensure that their legacy continues to burn bright and warm in our hearts, even through the gloom of late November.