With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the United States is again welcomed with the question of whether this holiday will be widely celebrated or is just a buffer before the Christmas season. With Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November, it became a national holiday in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln. According to Britannica, the American Thanksgiving may have been modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists and the Wampanoag people.
As the holiday gives thousands of Americans a break from work or school, not all celebrate the holiday the same way, with some not celebrating it at all. According to a study done by Pew Research, 91 percent of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in some way and U.S. History teacher Peter Palen explains why it’s one of his favorite holidays.
“I love it [Thanksgiving],” Palen said. “I think Thanksgiving is celebrated differently by a lot of people, but it’s always been a time where families get together, and it’s almost kind of like a warm up lap for the rest of the holiday season.”
For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning and protest since it commemorates the arrival of settlers in North America and the centuries of oppression and genocide that followed, according to Native Hope. Grace Geresy ’27 notes why she thinks this fact doesn’t majorly affect the American people.
“I usually celebrate Thanksgiving by going to the Detroit Parade and eating Italian food for dinner,” Geresy said. “I don’t think people actually really know what the true Thanksgiving was, so I don’t think people really actually care.”
For many Americans, getting together on Thanksgiving with their families is a really important aspect of the holiday. According to TSA, the busiest travel days of the year are usually the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which shows the amount of people going from state to state to see family. English teacher Sandra McCue expresses how seeing family is very important and why she loves the holiday.
“I love that the holiday is food-based and there is no need for presents,” McCue said. “Getting together with family is an opportunity we look for, and it’s very rare that we have one day where everybody’s able to get together and for my family, luckily, we all do have that day off of work.”
With the United States’ vast diversity, there are thousands of ways to go about the national holiday. Whether Thanksgiving is a day for Americans to stay at home and relax or go see family that live across the country, or even invite friends over to watch the Lions game, there is a way to celebrate for everyone.
“At the heart of Thanksgiving, what it is really about is connecting with your family and having a good meal,” Palen said. “Thanksgiving is an American tradition and holiday and I don’t think people are ready to give up on that.”
