We see turkeys on the cover of the new "Morris Area Merchants"
advertising publication. Kudos to the publication for recognizing the
true spirit of the upcoming weekend.
The turkeys point to Thanksgiving which is a holiday with a grand
purpose. We needn't recognize "Black Friday" so much. Only in recent
years has "Black Friday" picked up steam to where it might be seen as
overshadowing Thanksgiving. Of course it's up to all of us to set our
own priorities.
We could just cancel cable TV if we didn't want to hear so much
about Black Friday. The media have elevated the "shopping" day beyond
reasonable proportion. We can reject that. Fox News would be another
good reason to cancel cable TV. But I'm unemployed so I might get bored.
I used to discuss with Glen Helberg how unemployed people are
subject to feeling depressed on holidays. "Normal" people slow down and
relish the time off. For those of us who are shiftless by comparison, we
see no contrast. You get the blues. There's a feeling of relief when
"the routine" kicks in again (and I can watch "Morning Joe" at 5 p.m.
weekdays as scheduled). On normal workdays you can check the stock
market futures at that very early hour. You can see how Europe is doing
with the "footsie" (the European FTSE). When I was a kid it wouldn't
have crossed anyone's mind to check the stock market futures very early
in the morning. In fact, we'd get a "test pattern" if we turned on the
TV. So, times can change remarkably.
As a kid I received the standard imagery about Thanksgiving.
Pilgrims and the "natives" together, rejoicing and giving thanks. It was
a benign and uplifting story. We'd see the famous portrait of "George
Washington in the clouds" out by the milk machine in the commons area
(at Longfellow Elementary, today an office building for St. Francis
Health Services).
The iconic status of Washington was benign and uplifting too. The
turbulence of the late 1960s and '70s began to obscure a lot of that.
Much of that turbulence was unavoidable. We needed turbulence to get out
of Viet Nam and advance civil rights. But a lot of that fizzled off
like fireworks gone awry, i.e. it got misdirected.
The all-out assault on American traditions and myths probably
wasn't needed. It wasn't necessary for the deconstructionists to take
over so much of American education. It's fine for kids to learn the
story of Betsy Ross sewing the flag. The "great men" approach to history
was far from perfect but its replacement - the story of aggrieved
groups - had a discouraging air. We could easily see both approaches had
oversimplifications.
Kids are of course smarter than many of us think. They know when they're being "sold" something.
Is the Thanksgiving story unhealthy because it suggests the
Europeans were eager to break bread with the natives and make
accommodations, when in fact the natives were headed toward much
travail? History is a messy story of the strong exploiting the weak.
Identifying heroes and villains is a pursuit that seems to get us
nowhere. There are those who want to diss the history of Fort Snelling.
So much misery heaped on the Indians, so the argument goes. I think the
fort ought to represent one of the most fascinating historical locations
in Minnesota. We can't make history "right" by all the aggrieved
groups.
The so-called white people had no cakewalk. Just think of the
percentage of the male population killed as casualties of the Civil War.
(Timeout: I'm uncomfortable with the "white" and "non-white" dichotomy
of terms. Why should all "non-whites" be lumped under one label?)
The Civil War cause was good for the Union. But think of the
massive pain and death needed to advance it. We are so human an animal.
So in the end we must consider the traditional Thanksgiving story a
benign piece of imagery for kids as they develop their most benevolent
outlook. They'll eventually learn that history is written by the
winners. Plymouth and its "rock" (much smaller than most of us think)
endured in our national memory. The English prevailed.
New Englanders were at the forefront of molding America's
collective memory. Let's call it a bit of a creation myth. We teach kids
about the piety and work ethic of these gentle people who appeared to
seed the new land. All fine and wonderful, but of course the settlement
and development of this land was more complicated.
Of course we know all about Columbus. But that was in 1492, long
before the Pilgrims who arrived at that "rock" (five feet square) in
1620. Did nothing much happen in between? Oh my.
Europeans other than the Pilgrims had made quite extreme inroads in
this continent by the time the stovepipe hat-wearing Pilgrims broke bread
with the red Indians. Europeans had reached half of what would become
the 48 states. Maybe the Kensington Runestone wasn't such a big deal.
Why in heck don't we treat Giovanni da Verrazzano the same way as
Christopher Columbus? There's a bridge in New York City named for the
former. I remember when National Lampoon had a satire that had the
bridge collapsing under the weight of runners beginning the New York
City Marathon. This was before we had The Onion. It would be a perfect
Onion gag. If you don't regularly check The Onion website, you should.
Ol' Giovanni toured the whole eastern seaboard of the U.S. in 1524.
At one point he ordered a member of his crew to swim ashore. The
natives took this man to a fire. But it was to warm him and not to roast
him! Why not commemorate this instead of just those black-clad Pilgrims
by their "rock?"
Verrazzano ventured north where he spotted a wide bay. This would
become New York Harbor. He was an Italian commanding a French ship. The
story of this most intrepid soul ends tragically. He visited a Caribbean
island in 1528. There he was seized and eaten by natives (sorry for the
bluntness). We do have the bridge named in his honor: the "narrows"
bridge where he sailed in 1524. Quite famous in his own time, he has
faded.
The Portuguese really got out and about at one time. They sailed
along both U.S. coasts in the 16th Century. Spanish conquistadors got
inside our continent in 1542. My, they rode rafts along the Mississippi
River. And would you believe, the intrepid Spaniards broke bread and
"gave thanks" with natives 56 years before the iconic Plymouth Rock
story?
Some English explorers built a fort on Cuttyhunk, an island, in
1602, motivated not by a desire for religious freedom but to seek wealth
digging "sassafras." This commodity was most sought back home in
Europe, as it cured "the clap." It's not quite so endearing a story as
the Pilgrims with their newfound native compatriots. But hey, let's
stick with those charming Pilgrims and all that benevolent imagery. It's
good for kids.
And never forget: "History is written by the winners."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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