Everyone knows who Charlie Brown is. The round-headed boy with a yellow shirt, who was always sighing, and shuffled his feet when he walked. He was kind of a drag, but most of us can relate. Things didn’t go his way almost all of the time and watching his shows and movies make you laugh, and say “aw” at the same time.
And isn’t it because we can all relate? Let’s face it. Charlie Brown was you in middle school, and maybe even you now. While the Christmas and Halloween Charlie Brown Specials are very popular. Not many people have seen The Mayflower Voyagers.
For those who are unfamiliar, no, this is not the one about the pumpkin. This Charlie Brown special is about the pilgrims coming to America.
Ah.
It was part of a series called This is America, Charlie Brown, and one can already see how problematic this is. Aired in the late 70s, we would like to think that “Merica” has grown since then, but perhaps not.
The animation glorifies many aspects of the voyages, and this is to be expected. After all, American history books often gloss over the facts of early America, and this is a cartoon.
For example, most of us should know by now, that the native Americans were screwed over by the pilgrims who pretended to be good natured. As a means of survival, the pilgrims would go into their camps and steal food Many got caught and were held as captives by the Native Americans for good reason. Though the Native American were willing to show pilgrims how to farm and grow their own crops, the pilgrims resorted to savagery.
Not to mention that in this snippet Native Americans are called Indians. Yep.
Courtesy of mom.me
I guess society wasn’t all that progressive in the 70s.