When you’re reading this article, Thanksgiving will have come and gone. And while I’m sure I had more than my fair share of stuffing, Thanksgiving will remain my least favorite holiday. Here’s why.
- The Food
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This might be a controversial take, but I don’t like the food at Thanksgiving. The turkey is normally dry and bland, in dire need of seasoning or toppings to erase the mediocrity. And at my kitchen table, there are only two options to top off your turkey: cranberries or gravy, and I’m a fan of neither. Mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and stuffing – they’re all great! But they’re only sides, not the main course, and I always end up being just a little disappointed as I eat an extra serving of stuffing to compensate for the turkey. Also, whose favorite pie is pumpkin? I’ll take almost any pie over pumpkin, thank you very much.
- Small Talk
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Thankfully, in the past few years, only my immediate family and I have celebrated Thanksgiving together, and that’s how I like it. But it wasn’t too long ago that I was in a room full of people I didn’t know too well, making inane small talk until I felt dead inside. One thing I’m thankful for? I won’t need to have the same converstaion about where I go to school, what I study and what I want to do with my life over and over again, but I do know that’s what happened to a lot of our readers, this Thanksgiving. I feel for you, and I hope there’s a future devoid of Thanksgiving small talk for you.
- Being Put on the Spot
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Is it just me, or do the conversations around Thanksgiving hold a lot of pressure? Whenever I’m celebrating Thanksgiving, I’m always confronted by deep conversations I don’t want to have. Talking politics with my dad? I’d rather not have that conversation at the dinner table, when I’m already cranky from having to cook a big chunk of the meal (preparing a turkey is NOT fun). Being asked to lead my family in prayer, even though I’m not religious? That always leaves me feeling a little like an imposter and a whole lot uncomfortable. But here’s one tip in case you don’t like being put on the spot: prepare answers! I always come armed with a plethora of things I’m thankful for this year because I know I’ll be answering the question at least once an hour.
- The Cultural Appropriation
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And here’s when this list turns less playful. I’m sure we all had fun as little kids doing Thanksgiving crafts, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It might have been all fun and games to make cardboard headdresses when we were four and didn’t know better, but it makes me uncomfortable to see it still happening. It’s amazing when different cultures are taught to us in a respectful manner, but when we mislearn the real history behind Christopher Columbus and colonization, only to then “play” Native American in November, it strikes me as disrespectful and negligent.
- Thanksgiving Celebrates Colonization
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The celebration of Thanksgiving stems from a feast that the Plymouth pilgrims hosted in 1621 and that the Wampanoag tribe attended. While this feast might be a blip of peace, don’t forget that colonizers like the pilgrims stole land, pilfered goods and raped and murdered millions. By early 1600, 56 million indigenous people of North, Central and South America were killed by colonizers or the diseases that came with them. When we celebrate Thanksgiving as proof of goodwill between pilgrims and Native Americans, we erase the horrors that European immigrants inflicted upon indigenous peoples. Therefore, instead of ignoring the true history behind Thanksgiving, make sure to take the time to acknowledge the problematic roots of Thanksgiving and inform yourself about the surrounding tribes in your area. Here’s a map of the tribes in North Carolina.
And those are my reasons why Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. Yes, there are some good things about Thanksgiving too, but the holiday just doesn’t hold a warm place in my heart. Nevertheless, I hope you all had a respectful and relaxing Thanksgiving, as we near our final exams!