A Celebration of Irony
Thanksgiving is upon us once again, and with it we embrace the wonderful amenities it has to offer: food, friends, football, tryptophan, etc. It truly is a wonderful American tradition. Having said that, we would also like to take a look at another, not-so-pleasant American tradition that is intimately related to Thanksgiving.
We all know how the Thanksgiving story goes. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in the Mayflower, set up shop, had a horrible time, and had their asses saved by the Natives. The bountiful harvest yielded from the Natives’ agricultural innovations was celebrated in a 3 day feast, attended by Pilgrims and Natives alike.
It really is a heartwarming story filled with good qualities of the American spirit: comradery, teamwork, sharing, perseverance… but most importantly tolerance and respect for others’ cultures.
Somehow that message got lost in translation. Year after year we celebrate this tale of cooperation and respect for our Native brethren, and we seldom stop and think on the irony of it.
It didn’t take long after the Pilgrims’ famous meal with the locals in 1621 that we as a nation began to exploit, massacre and steal from them any chance we got.
President Lincoln made the Thanksgiving tradition a national holiday in 1863. It’s all too ironic that a little over a decade prior to, The Indian Appropriations Act came to be—marking the official beginning of the modern-day reservation system that we know today. Then came the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871, which essentially robbed Indian tribes of their unique identities in the eyes of American government.
It read: “That hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty…”
The years surrounding the creation of our beloved national holiday are shrouded with ill will toward the Indian population. Around the same time we also had the massacres of Wounded Knee and Sand Creek, along with countless other acts of infamy.
Even during that first Thanksgiving in 1621, we didn’t really contribute much to the Indian people. Again, the Pilgrims would likely not have made it through that first year without some help, and they did very little to reciprocate, if anything at all.
Fast forward to World Wars I and II, another account of Indians saving the day. The Navajo Code Talkers kept our most secret of radio interactions secret. 3,600 Navajo fought for the U.S.—making them the highest proportion of any ethnicity in the military at that time. Over 400 Code Talkers among them played a crucial role in American military operations, and it wasn’t until over 50 years later that they received any recognition for their contribution to the cause. Most of them did not live to see that day. It would seem that not much has changed in the past few hundred years.
We don’t mean to be killjoys, but while you’re celebrating your Thanksgiving this time around, simply be mindful of the irony it represents.
Speaking of Intolerance…
Bob 95 FM operations manager John Austin has both the local gay and HIV/AIDS communities in an uproar over a comment he made on the air this week. He called Adam Lambert’s performance on the American Music Awards “So gay it should be called the HIV awards.”
This may be one of the most offensive on-air statements in Fargo-Moorhead history. It even blows Don Imus’s infamous “nappy-headed hoes” comment out of the water.
Local gay rights and HIV/AIDS activists have united in an effort rouse some accountability for the statement. They are demanding a public apology, as well for the parties involved to participate in the upcoming AIDS day events.
By the time this editorial hits news stands, Austin will have given a follow-up statement on the controversy. Will the station attempt to make things right? We shall see.
Here’s an anonymous reaction to Austin’s statement to consider:
“As a homosexual person living with HIV in the FM Area the comment is a double blow. Not only is it an offense to the gay community, but also to the HIV/AIDS community as well. (Which apparently the DJ doesn’t understand they don’t go hand in hand) Even if the comment was said as a stupid joke it is still offensive and hurtful. But the fact the station manager defends the comments shows the bigotry & disrespect goes much deeper into the company and people should be made aware of it.
“I think it’s time communities start standing up for all discriminated communities in the FM area and not keep letting them slide because ‘we live in the Midwest’ and use that as an excuse. Things need to start changing here also, as they are everywhere else.”
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