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American Holocaust

Nov 13 2007

American Holocaust

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Editorial

By Robert Jensen

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American Holocaust
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The choices: Make people comfortable by engaging or by disengaging

Obviously there are people in the United States -- indigenous and otherwise -- who do not celebrate Thanksgiving or who mark it, in private and/or in public, as a day of mourning.

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm

Also obvious is that there are people who may not have a family or community with which they celebrate such holidays; it’s important to remember that there are people on such holidays who are alone and/or lonely, and to them these political questions may seem irrelevant.

But for those of us who do get invited to traditional Thanksgiving Day dinners, how do we remain true to our stated political and moral principles? I think we have two choices.

We can go to the Thanksgiving gatherings put on by friends and family, determined to raise these issues and willing to take the risk of alienating those who want to enjoy the day without politics. Or, we can refuse to go to such a gathering and make it known why we’re not attending, which means taking the risk of alienating those who want to enjoy the day without politics.

This year, I’ve decided to disengage and explain why to the people who invited me. These are people I love, yet who have made a different decision. My love for them has not diminished, and I trust the conversation with them about this and other political/moral questions will continue.

Once I make that decision, of course I also have the option of participating in a public event that resists Thanksgiving. I’m not aware of one happening in my community, and because of commitments to other political projects I didn’t feel I could organize an effective event in time for this Thanksgiving Day. But on the assumption that others may feel this way, I have started thinking about what kind of public gathering could make such a political statement effectively, and in the future I hope to find others who are interested in such an event locally.

So, what will I do on Thanksgiving Day this year? I’ll probably spend part of the day alone. Maybe I’ll take a long walk and think about all this. I’ll try to be kind and decent to the people I bump into during the day. I’ll miss the company of friends and family who are gathering, and I’ll try to reflect on why I’ve made this choice and why this question matters to me. I’ll think about why others made the choices they made.

But this year, whatever I do, I won’t celebrate Thanksgiving. I’m going to let that parade pass me by.

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center http://thirdcoastactivist.org. His latest book is Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (South End Press, 2007). http://www.southendpress.or/2007/items/87767&Jensen is also the author of The Heart of Whiteness: Race, Racism, and White Privilege and Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (both from City Lights Books); and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang). He can be reached at: rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu

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Comments (3)

1. 13-11-2007 22:00

Bush US greedy, criminal, obese

Americans constitute 4.7% of the world\'s population but consume 25% of its resources.

In keeping with that status quo the US has troops in 135 countries and bases in 39 foreign locations not countng US overseas territories like Guam etc (see US bases).

The US and its surrogates are now partially or completely, violently occupying the territory of a swathe of countries, namely Haiti, Cuba, Somalia, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Diego Garcia.

About 33% of Americans are obese: \"A key factor in many chronic illnesses is obesity and smoking. About 33 percent of Americans are obese, compared with 17 percent in 10 European countries reviewed. More than half of Americans are former or current smokers, compared with about 43 percent in the European sample\" (see: US obesity, smoking.

16 million people die avoidably each year (9.6 million of them under-5 year old infants) (2003 figures), mainly in the non-European world and mostly due to deprivation or deprivation-exacerbated disease on Spaceship Earth with obese, war criminal, climate criminal, racist Bush America at the helm (see \"Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950\" via the link below or via Body Count.

It will get worse. Climate criminal Bush America is the world\'s worst greenhouse gas polluter, is among the top annual per capita greenhouse gas pollutters, won\'t constrain greenhouse polllution and (like its similarly grossly polluting lackey state White Australia) won\'t sign Kyoto (see: War on Terra\": War on Terra.

The executive secretary of the UN climate change group UNFCCC has stated that those ignoring and failing to act on the climate change crisis that acutely threatens the POOR of the World are \"criminally irresponsible\" Bush-ite US, Australia criminally irresponsible.

May well the criminally irresponsible Americans give Thanksgiving.

http://mwcnews.net/content/view/1375/247/

Registered

Gideon Polya

2. 13-11-2007 22:32

Its that time

I have been struggleing with this issue again, even more so withthe lack of acknowledgement of the genocides in the middle east. In watching on c-span an awards video of James Baldwin, author of The Fire the Next Time, recieving a writters award, in his speech and answering questions to the audience, this was excactly his topic. A new national holiday for americans which involved the white mans education which he said and I quote," That the white man seems to have a predisposition with genocide, he took america from the indians STOLD IT FROM HIM. Until the white man learns who he is and acknowleges it the white man and the colored man will not be able to live together." As Dr. Polya has said history ignored is history repeated. In our manifest destiny a written ok to continue on to go west to all that lay there for us to take. Now again we turn our gazing direction around and look to the east the middle east. And in the U.S. we still have to have congress approve, the black man to have the right to vote. What kind of freedom is that that it has to be reviewed, we have to still give the blackman approval to vote. Do we have to review for the white man to continue to vote. As if this has to earned and review on some time frame.

Registered

Steve

3. 14-11-2007 12:17

Scholarly perspective

Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?

Guest

adam.skinner@gmail.comNOSPAM! ">Adam Skinner

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