Thanksgiving Over Again...

I guess I'll start where I left off. Thanksgiving is a day that Americans spend with their loved ones in this big, joyful, food-filled, celebration. We eat and give thanks to all the blessings that have been recieved and just enjoy this beautiful holiday season. But, when was the last time you stopped and asked how did this beautiful holiday really begin?! Who started? We have all heard the stories about the Pilgrims and the Indians and how they came together that wonderful day. However, my first time hearing what really happened was in Andy"s class. The Indians of course shared their meal with the poor, poor Pilgrims. They had this great meal and celebrated that both races could live happily. Or so they thought. The Pilgrims however were planning on how they could kill the Indians the fastest. Of course they didn"t do it the same day, that would have been rude but shortly after they began killling and spreading diseases so that they could all die off and the wondeful, grateful Pilgrims could have all their land and teach those savages how to live. Now of course me wanting to inform my family of what we were celebrating told my family me new discovery and was quickly shut down by my stepmother who felt offended. I shrugged it off because let"s be real, it wasn"t that serious but this showed me something about Americans. We do not like to be told that what we are doing is wrong. Celebrating what we believe should be up to us because even if it has a horrible meaning, it after all is the American Way of Life to celebrate it. Americans also do not like to be proven wrong, because as my stepmother came up with excuses defending the Pilgrims she became frustrated that I was not agreeing with her. My question is how are Americans celebrating this holiday when it has such a miserable past (for the Indians at least)? Do most Americans know? It dawned on me though that most must not know because they don"t teach us that in first grade when we go over the Mayflower and alll those things. Do teachers see that as a tiny, unimportant detail in American History? Then I realized even though I knew what it meant I still celebrated it. I still ate until I was about to burst. What does this say about Americans. That we are selfish and not at all interested in the horrible past that are Native American friends had to endure. We concentrate on things that will make us happy and deny the things that will take that joy away from us. But then again, we're just living the American Way of Life.