Campus Reform correspondent Josiah Tejada visited the University of Oregon campus to interview students ahead of the university hosting a Thanksgiving-centric event titled, "Thanks But No Thanks-giving."
The event, according to the outlet, "labeled the holiday as a 'celebration' of 'ongoing genocide,'" and aimed to make its attendees more "culturally aware."
Tejada asked students their opinions on Thanksgiving, and whether they believe the holiday to be racist, or a celebration of genocide.
Here are some of the more interesting responses
- "Honestly, like, I'm not super educated on the topic, but I just know that it has to do with the way the settlers kind of treated the Natives who lived here."
- "There's definitely a racist history to Thanksgiving, and that should probably, definitely be addressed more in education."
- "[Thanksgiving is] racist [because] we're celebrating taking away land from Natives. It's pretty racist."
- "The whole concept with, like, taking land and assigning a value to it through cost is, like, it was different through European cultures."
- "It doesn't have to not be celebrated, but if we can change it to instead of feeding ourselves, maybe feeding the natives or donating to natives. Do we really need a giant feast every year?"
Anything else?
All was not a total loss, however: Several of the respondents admitted that they didn't believe the holiday is a racist one, and some copped to simply appreciating the holiday because they have the freedoms to enjoy sharing a good, home-cooked meal with their families.