this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2023
793 points (96.8% liked)
Memes
46087 readers
1690 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
(American)
My family is always surprised that I don't celebrate Thanksgiving (though I do like to eat). Maybe it has something to do with the fact that everyone is Christian, right-wing, straight and hateful - and vocal about it, while I am gay, satanic, soft-spoken and not right-wing. Maybe it's because I see celebrating the day where we 'gifted' natives items that would knowingly harm and kill them, and even centuries later we'd still be trying to eradicate their people, freedoms, rights, history, land...
Nah, it's definitely because I'm a godless heathen who likes gagging on guys. Most absolutely. More gravy with your confederate flag napkins, aunty? I'm so glad you brought enough for everyone.
(I might have my facts skewed but that's what I took away from my history classes 20 years ago)
On the blankets thing, my understanding is that there was a single incident during the siege of Fort Pitt where a Swiss mercenary captain handed out some linens from their smallpox ward with the hopes that it'd kill the sieging natives. There's no proof the blankets killed them either (as opposed to an epidemic already circulating), as supposedly smallpox can only survive 24hrs outside of a host.
However, the widespread pandemic that is known to have killed thousands was not intentionally caused by settlers. That didn't occur for another 60~70yrs. The single account that claimed the US government committed genocide via biological weapons has supposedly been fairly thoroughly debunked. Of course, the smallpox had to come from somewhere, but it's unlikely that it was intentional.
Well, there goes my excuse for not wanting to interact with family members on a holiday.