As Americans across the country joined together with friends and family on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving, many realized that they had less to be thankful for than before. For many of us born and raised in the US, Thanksgiving has already become a complicated holiday as we reflect on the experiences of the Mashpee Wampanoag and their perspective on the events that we now celebrate as a national holiday. For many of our friends, neighbors, and colleagues in immigrant communities, this year’s celebration was instead a time to note those who are missing from their dinner tables, either detained or deported. Others may have missed the celebrations entirely as they feared the inhumane enforcement regimes happening outside their front doors. Communities are scared and being pushed further to the fringes of our society. Instead of a time to be grateful for what we have, many are mourning what they have lost. Instead of bringing us together as a nation, our communities are being further divided.
The irony, of course, is that the traditional depiction of the first Thanksgiving is one of friendship and cooperation between the indigenous Wampanoag and the immigrant Puritans. Today, we have an administration that attacks and otherizes immigrant populations, treating them as a threat rather than being thankful for the richness that they bring to America. We should not be surprised that this administration has little regard for the lessons of Thanksgiving; five years ago, the Trump administration had tried to rescind the land rights of the tribe at the very heart of the Thanksgiving story. As we give thanks for what we have, let us not forget the ongoing struggles of people who still seek to be accepted as part of our great nation.