Embracing Multiculturalism: From our table to yours this Thanksgiving by Geoff Serra
Westerly Sun November 16, 2023 Smiling, a sitting group of various ages leans forward in anticipation, and a standing patriarch proudly looks on as his aproned wife places a perfect, uncarved turkey on the dining table. Freedom from Want, one panel of Norman Rockwell’s 1943 oil-painting series The Four Freedoms, has become the iconic depiction of the American Thanksgiving. Rockwell depicts only white American middle-class values and home life. But, today’s many diverse, multicultural, multiethnic families (however we choose to define “family”) look and are different. Today, the aroma of cumin or turmeric is likely to harmonize with sage in the kitchen, and the flavor of conversation in some homes may be more challenging and less celebratory. According to historical sources, those Europeans who celebrated the first Thanksgiving viewed the natives with suspicion as uncivilized pagans. The first winter for the ill-prepared Plymouth colonizers had been harsh. By spring, 50 percent of them were dead. The Wampanoags had saved them by offering succor and teaching them to survive and prepare for the future. They taught them about native plants, agriculture, hunting, and fishing. After that first fall’s harvest, the colonizers planned to give thanks. When the Wampanoags heard the gunshots of a colonial hunt for wildfowl for the thanksgiving meal, they believed an attack was underway. Ninety Indians were dispatched to investigate. They saw the beginning of a feast of gratitude. The Wampanoags returned to their village and brought back food, including venison. It is noteworthy that Wampanoags were not invited to that meal in 1621. They happened upon it and ended up sharing in it. Ironically, the Indians broke bread with Europeans who had no right to the land, who, in time, seized it, enslaved natives, and murdered many others. By 1636, almost 90 percent of the Wampanoag tribe in New England (including RI) had perished in the Great Dying, as it was called, brought on by European diseases. Is it no wonder indigenous peoples have declared Thanksgiving a day of mourning? In 1970, Wamsutta Frank James, the leader of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and president of the Federated Eastern Indian League, declared the fourth Thursday of November a National Day of Mourning. He said, “What has happened cannot be changed, but today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian America, where men and nature once again are important; where the Indian values of honor, truth, and brotherhood prevail.” It is a sentiment we can all embrace, especially today. Everyone’s history matters. We must respect and honor all people. Can we? Despite the tension, we often break bread with those family or friends with whom we may disagree, see eye-to-eye, harbor a grudge against, or just plain dislike. It happens: a vocal ideological, philosophical, or religious challenger, a cousin whose life choices we disapprove, an opinionated in-law, a rebellious child or step-child, a rival sibling, an intrusive aunt, a biased uncle, an ungrateful nephew, a complaining niece. The reality is we are not all, or permanently, the smiling, happy folks Rockwell depicts in his painting. At this time of year, we hear and say, “There’s always room for one more at our table,” or “We always have enough for more.” Are such statements genuine? We must ask ourselves, “For whom is there not enough room at my table, or for whom will I not set a place? Or, phrased differently, “Who would show up at my door that I would not invite to join the meal?” Abuse, violence, and crime aside, who would bring discomfort to you should they take a seat at your Thanksgiving table and why? And, who is not welcome at our community’s table and why? These questions bore to the core of the tensions in our lives, both personal and communal. We can choose to bring our biases to light, expose our unsupported or misinformed prejudices to fact, and view our emotional, sometimes irrational, intolerances with the clarity of reason. By doing so, we can discover space where we need most to grow. We must also help those in our community threatened with food insecurity or without a warm, safe home. When we invite those who show up at our door to sit at our table no matter who they are, whether their arrival is actual or metaphorical, only then do we genuinely become the Pilgrims we honor at Thanksgiving. And only then will the spirit of Rockwell’s sentimental picture get it right. A modern Thanksgiving in our diverse world honors the truths of our community, history, and shared humanity. Westerly ARC invites you to our “table” for community and conversation every Sunday, 11-1, at the Post Office. This column is written by members of the Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition, which embraces multiculturalism to address racism. A community coalition unaffiliated with any state, national, or international organization, ARC meets on the steps of the Westerly Post Office each Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This Sunday, meet the author and join the discussion about this column. All are welcome. Learn more and subscribe to ARC’s newsletter at westerlyarc.weebly.com. Contact them at [email protected]. Comments are closed.
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This website is a publication of the Westerly Anti-Racism Coalition. ARC is a community coalition unaffiliated with any state, national, or international organization. ARC embraces multiculturalism to address racism.
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