Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who like so many on the left loathes the country that gives him a pampered life, writes:
No Thanks to Thanksgiving
One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.
In fact, indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas.
Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits -- which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States.
That the world's great powers achieved "greatness" through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable.
....
Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers.
....
Now there's a guy in the holiday spirit! But don't you dare question his patriotism.
All of America's enemies are not in the Middle East, folks.
(link via Michelle Malkin)
One day you might get it through your head that "so many on the left" only loathe *your version* of the country - no civil rights, forced Christianity, government by and for corporations, soldiers dying for oil.
It's not your America, so calling people who disagree with you enemies of America is pretty presumptuous. Not to mention incredibly arrogant.
Do you get a kick throwing these self righteous, intellectual travesties out? Does it make you feel smart and powerful? Pathetic.
Comment by angryflower — November 24, 2005 @ 1:59 pm November 24, 2005
"...no civil rights, forced Christianity, government by and for corporations, soldiers dying for oil."
That's just the sort of hateful, paranoid nonsense that makes our point. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Comment by The Editors — November 24, 2005 @ 8:41 pm November 24, 2005
As a native American, I'm always amused at these white voices of moral superiority and guilt. I guess they think that if they hate themselves, then no one else will be able to hate them, cause, see, we hate ourselves too, so we're morally superior because we hate ourselves. And no, you aren't morally superior because you hate yourself Mr. Jensen, you're just a moron.
Comment by avaroo — November 26, 2005 @ 11:14 am November 26, 2005
All of America’s enemies are not in the Middle East, folks
Yep, some of them are in the white house!
Comment by Chris mankey — November 28, 2005 @ 11:27 am November 28, 2005
Mr. mankey,
Wow, what a clever and original comment. Did you spend the weekend thinking that one up? Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Comment by The Editors — November 28, 2005 @ 12:38 pm November 28, 2005
Wow, you guys certainly did a thorough and awesome job on Jensen! I'll bet he's crying his eyes out from the fallout of your brave rebuttal*.
*I'm assuming for the sake of argument that you have a rebuttal, and merely didn't bother to include it here. You DO have a rebuttal, right? I hope? Because you didn't actually, you know, write it down.
Comment by Tom — November 29, 2005 @ 5:50 pm November 29, 2005
Tom,
We do not feel compelled to offer a point-by-point rebuttal to every lunatic who may publish some self-evidently crackpot anti-American rant on the Internet. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Comment by The Editors — November 29, 2005 @ 8:32 pm November 29, 2005
Editors,
The only self-evidence I find compelling in this excerpt is its historical accuracy--which you seem only able to ridicule but not challenge (because, it seems, you would be factually incorrect).
I'm earnestly curious as to which aspects of Jensen's account you take factual issue with. Genocide? Invasion? Let's hear it.
Also, it's amusing that, despite the outward appearance of intellectual integrity on this site, you perpetuate the childishly-simplistic notion that any form of unfavorable criticism of anything related to America amounts to anti-Americanism. Jensen criticizes Thanksgiving? An American holiday which in his view and mine, cynically celebrates the last recorded instance of westerners and Native Americans co-existing peacefully (and has no memory of that which followed immediately thereafter)? He's an America-hater--probably me too, since I agree with him.
But really now, while we're name-calling, why stop there? Jensen and I, obvious leftists, must sympathize with Communists and terrorists as well, because they too hate America. Furthermore, we're probably dedicated to the God-hating agendas of the athiests and homosexuals as well. (Did I get everything? Surely not. Let me know.) At any rate, those are all quite the zingers as well, and no less myopic or inappropriate than "America-haters," especially in the context of a right-wing blog's essential "discrediting through association with oversimplified labels" approach, or should I say "vetting."
Finally, no, thank you for having me, gentlemen--it's been a pleasure. I'm sure we'll meet again, probably elsewhere.
Tom
Comment by Tom — December 2, 2005 @ 12:56 am December 2, 2005