# Thanksgiving Day, what did whites actually bring to the table? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics and Social Issues\ **Created:** [November 21, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617 "2021-11-21T14:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![citizenschallengev4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/citizenschallengev4/32/28718_2.png) [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/1 "2021-11-21T14:55:23Z")
My bandwidth is only so wide, and I’ll admit I’m not particularly up to date on the controversies over the whities sanitized version of Thanksgiving Day, nor all the hysteria around “Christian” Christmas day and what it means: consumerism and me,me,me runamok, or, something that meant something, somewhere, in the long ago, before people started piling up on top of each other, each demanding a bigger piece of the pie, silly ‘innocents’ who blame everyone else for their problems, since they themselves are always faultless. But hey, this isn’t a time for strife, it’s a time for reflection. So here are some facts worth processing and reflecting on along with all the mythologizing. # Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving Is Wrong [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/us/thanksgiving-myths-fact-check.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=U.S.&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/us/thanksgiving-myths-fact-check.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=U.S.&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article) MSNBC - Gyasi Ross takes the mic to share his thoughts on the myths around Thanksgiving, and what it means to Black and Indigenous communities in 2022. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/centerforinquiry/original/3X/f/0/f051efdd7fb0d13d07aa3984bf26de5c8cfb37ba.jpeg "The Thanksgiving History You've Never Heard") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkZxK-MsabY) > **[First Thanksgiving: How a Native woman is setting the record straight](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2020/1120/First-Thanksgiving-How-a-Native-woman-is-setting-the-record-straight)** > > Linda Coombs’ lifework is to share a fuller picture of the Wampanoag Nation and its contact with some of the first English settlers. [https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/beyond-the-so-called-first-thanksgiving-5-childrens-books-that-set-the-record-straight](https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/beyond-the-so-called-first-thanksgiving-5-childrens-books-that-set-the-record-straight) ---
**Author:** ![citizenschallengev4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/citizenschallengev4/32/28718_2.png) [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/2 "2021-11-21T15:14:36Z")
I know, I know, that side of history is utterly offensive to our Republican brethren and sisterens, after all it’s all about us the master race the superior tribe with the great plan to consume it all and disregard the rest until the larder runs dry - then blame all your problems on the others. Keep your hands off my stack! [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/centerforinquiry/original/2X/e/e38721bfff6c24eaf537791d9dcdf821cf80de11.jpeg "Pink Floyd - Money (HQ) Lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg7zp5GuAIQ) ---
**Author:** ![ibelieveinlogic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/ibelieveinlogic/32/18_2.png) [@ibelieveinlogic](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/ibelieveinlogic)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 11:21am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/3 "2021-11-22T11:21:33Z")
> [@citizenschallengev4](#): > > that side of history is utterly offensive … blame all your problems on the others. Interesting how the cancel culture folks bemoan the telling of history in any way that doesn’t serve their agenda. Wait, strike out “the cancel culture folks” and put in “all human groups”. And I suppose we could strike out “history” and replace it with “any story”. And that leads to the conclusion that all humans have an agenda. Truth, in the context of humans, may just be not what actually happened but how one views it. Objective beings we aren’t, but it probably doesn’t matter. Seems like thin and smart people generally aren’t as happy as the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/4 "2021-11-22T15:26:58Z")
What we’ve learned is all lies from the winning side. It is the winners who write history and they bury the history of the other side. We only get the view of the winners or the view the winners want us to have. The truth is somewhere between the winners and the losers of history, but the two shall never meet and we may never get the truth. However, the truth is, white men have been brutal all throughout history, imposing and forcing their views on others and if the ones they are forcing and imposing these views on don’t accept them, they kill them. That’s U.S. history in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![morgankane01](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/morgankane01/32/28536_2.png) [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/5 "2021-11-22T18:38:21Z")
True, but they are not the only ones. During WWII Japaneses were as brutal and racists as the Nazis. The Zulu state was not very peaceful, the Arabs and Mongols either. Helped by the Whites, the Iroquois did not hesitate to commit genocide against the Hurons. The truth is that in the 18th and 19th centuries, the western states had the motives, the technology and the skill to conquer the world. They were helped by the deficiencies of their preys, i think specially about China and India. ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/6 "2021-11-22T19:31:52Z")
True and those who win often turn on the allies, as seen concerning the Iroquois. ---
**Author:** ![morgankane01](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/morgankane01/32/28536_2.png) [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/7 "2021-11-22T19:59:41Z")
To divide to better conquer is a basic strategy. It was successfully used in south America, India and Africa. Nowadays, China, Russia and USA use it to divide European countries, to better use it and prevent the birth of a super power. The European countries play in their hands. ---
**Author:** ![cuthbertj](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/cuthbertj/32/18_2.png) [@cuthbertj](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cuthbertj)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/8 "2021-11-24T00:16:39Z")
> [@morgankane01](#): > > True, but they are not the only ones. During WWII Japaneses were as brutal and racists as the Nazis. The Zulu state was not very peaceful, the Arabs and Mongols either. Exactly. I’m kinda getting tired of the “evil white guys caused all the problems” thing. There are ef-ups in every nation, race, etc. And even women to some extent - put them in power, real power, and see what they do. I’ll bet the old Absolute Power corrupts absolutely would apply to them too. Sure white guys screwed things up, but I guarantee if things had evolved so that women were the dominate gender, they would have been just as bad. (There’s a nice Start Trek Next Gen episode btw that deals with this.) ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 4:52am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/9 "2021-11-24T04:52:55Z")
> [@cuthbertj](#): > > (There’s a nice Start Trek Next Gen episode btw that deals with this.) I know which one you are talking about. I believe the title is Angel One. However, Betazed is also a Matriarchal society. That said, there would some women who would rule corruptly and some who wouldn’t. Angel One v Betazed. Oh wait… Lwaxana was pretty domineering when it came to men. lol [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/centerforinquiry/original/2X/4/4d55444886c173f0bb69028424b02621c806c3f9.jpeg "Star Trek Moments TNG - Episode. - 14. Angel One.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qywsg92Uf00) ---
**Author:** ![citizenschallengev4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/citizenschallengev4/32/28718_2.png) [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/10 "2021-11-24T15:02:11Z")
> [@cuthbertj](#): > > . I’m kinda getting tired of the “evil white guys caused all the problems” thing. Evil white guys happen to have most all the power. Take some responsibility, rather than constantly playing that slimy denial and transference card. ---
**Author:** ![thatoneguy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/thatoneguy/32/28536_2.png) [@thatoneguy](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/thatoneguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/11 "2021-11-25T03:18:03Z")
A better question would be what _didn’t_ Whites bring to the table. Everything that matters came from Whites. ---
**Author:** ![citizenschallengev4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/citizenschallengev4/32/28718_2.png) [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/12 "2021-11-25T16:33:47Z")
> [@thatoneguy](#): > > A better question would be what _didn’t_ Whites bring to the table. Everything that matters came from Whites Keep’n it in your bubble buddy. [https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/6-thanksgiving-myths-share-them-with-someone-you-know](https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/6-thanksgiving-myths-share-them-with-someone-you-know) [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thanksgiving-myth-and-what-we-should-be-teaching-kids-180973655/](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thanksgiving-myth-and-what-we-should-be-teaching-kids-180973655/) > But, as David Silverman writes in his new book [_This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving_](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flinks.sicirculation.mkt6348.com%2Fctt%3Fkn%3D2%26ms%3DNDExNjY0MDkS1%26r%3DOTY1OTg5NDkzMzYxS0%26b%3D0%26j%3DMTY0MTk1ODUzMwS2%26mt%3D1%26rt%3D3&data=02%7C01%7Cbugosc%40si.edu%7Ca48fbf81b8934099cdf108d76f86de85%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637100497362114863&sdata=x7fM2%2F1mqWH1tiN%2FlbEJDrucxS5xKX%2BKEyatfzOSzsQ%3D&reserved=0) _,_ much of that story is a myth riddled with historical inaccuracies. Beyond that, Silverman argues that the telling and retelling of these falsehoods is deeply harmful to the Wampanoag Indians whose lives and society were forever damaged after the English arrived in Plymouth. Happy Thanksgiving ---
**Author:** ![citizenschallengev4](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/citizenschallengev4/32/28718_2.png) [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/13 "2021-11-25T16:36:14Z")
Of course, now we have the leading the horse to water problem here. If the guy has zero interesting in gaining new horizons of understanding, he’s probably going to be sure to shoot the messenger before a word is passed between them. ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/14 "2021-11-25T21:56:33Z")
> [@thatoneguy](#): > > A better question would be what _didn’t_ Whites bring to the table. Everything that matters came from Whites. You know, you come off very racist. Not sure if you really are racist, but you come off as a racist. Anyway… Here’s something I’d like to share on the subject of Thanksgiving and in a way what white people contributed- murder, genocide, mass abduction of children, destruction of a culture, etc (which I guess is “what matters” according to thatoneguy): > **[Dear white people: Here’s how to honor Native Americans](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/11/dear-white-people-heres-how-to-honor-native-americans/)** > > Help us locate and commemorate our children who died while being forced by the government to attend boarding schools. ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/15 "2021-11-25T22:10:20Z")
For your listening pleasure on this Thanks Day- more on Native Americans- yesterday and today: > **[As Thanksgiving Turns 400, Indigenous Resistance is Rising](https://www.democracynow.org/2021/11/24/as_thanksgiving_turns_400_indigenous_resistance)** > > By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan > Native communities are resilient and organized, and rising up in resistance. For this, we should all give thanks. ---
**Author:** ![morgankane01](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/morgankane01/32/28536_2.png) [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/16 "2021-11-25T22:51:10Z")
> [@thatoneguy](#): > > A better question would be what _didn’t_ Whites bring to the table. Everything that matters came from Whites. What did not come with the Whites ? Peace, freedom, brotherhood of men, harmony with nature. I could go on … ---
**Author:** ![mriana](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/mriana/32/18174_2.png) [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/17 "2021-11-26T02:55:02Z")
> **[Perspective | ‘We are still here’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/native-american-heritage-month-were-still-here/)** > > There are more than 570 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages in the United States. Still, too many people assume all American Indians are dead; they have an image in their heads of old black-and-white photos of... ---
**Author:** ![thatoneguy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/thatoneguy/32/28536_2.png) [@thatoneguy](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/thatoneguy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/18 "2021-11-26T19:43:05Z")
> [@morgankane01](#): > > What did not come with the Whites ? Peace, freedom, brotherhood of men, harmony with nature. > > I could go on … Those have always been in short supply everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![cuthbertj](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/cuthbertj/32/18_2.png) [@cuthbertj](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/cuthbertj)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/19 "2021-12-01T16:18:46Z")
I’m not denying white guys have been a major problem in the past and currently. But I AM saying that put in the same position as the bad white guys, I’ll bet most others would behave the same way. And you do kind of see it today. Look at the awful women in the Rethug party. Just evil haters…and white women! Point being, it’s the circumstances and it’s human nature that’s common to everybody, not something inherent in white guys. Sociologists chime in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![morgankane01](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.centerforinquiry.org/morgankane01/32/28536_2.png) [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617/20 "2021-12-01T17:38:11Z")
> [@cuthbertj](#): > > Point being, it’s the circumstances and it’s human nature that’s common to everybody, not something inherent in white guys. I agree, and that’s why whatever your aim is, you must fight the system, and it means class struggle ! [Next page](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/thanksgiving-day-what-did-whites-actually-bring-to-the-table/8617.md?page=2)