Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Genocide/Rape & Pillage/Thankstaking Day!

"Yes, I am an American. But I am an American in revolt. I am revolted by the holiday known as Thanksgiving."

It's as though we forget because time has passed. Or rather that we don't care, because we do not see ourselves as one with the victims of this genocide?

For many of us this “holiday” was explained for the first time in elementary school as a celebration of prosperity in the “New World”. I’m sure many of you remember those cherished moments in the Kinder when the teacher would dress you up like Colonists and Indians, y yo con un nopal en la frente often got stuck being a Pilgrim!

The teachers told us the stories of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims and how they triumphed over the cold winter and failed crops. These colonists were to serve as examples because their “rugged individualism” set the foundation for this nation. This, unfortunately, marks the beginning of the first of many lies and half-truths taught to us in school about how this Western Empire was established.

For our purposes we must go back in time a little further to see that the origins of November twenty-fifth are in fact much older than the foundations of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Subsequently we must go to VIII century Europe.

In the 8th century the Muslims (Moors) conquered Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for over 700 years. These people threatened European Christians, meaning Western Civilization.

It was not until the late 15th century that in Spain on November 25, 1491, Santiago defeated the last Muslim stronghold in Grenada. On this day King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for this victory and the Pope of Rome declared this day to forever be a day of Thanksgiving for all European Christians.

The Hip-Hop lyricist, Rass Kass, in “Nature of the Threat” states that: “When you celebrate Thanksgiving, what you are actually celebrating is the proclamation of the Pope of Rome, who later in league with Queen Isabella, sent Cardinal Ximenos to Spain to murder any Blacks that resisted Christianity.” These genocidal policies were justified by Pope Nicholas in the Inter Cetera Papal Bull of 1452, which called for the King of Portugal “To invade, search out, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans, whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ”.

These are the true religious and political motivations that formulated the white supremacist mindset that was the foundations for the economic colonization of the Americas and its Native peoples.

Thanksgiving in the United States is a part of this tradition that celebrates the subjugation of non-Western people for colonial purposes. Its roots are more directly connected to the events that occurred in the Northeast in the year 1637, when 700 men, women, and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their “Annual Green Corn Dance” in the area that is now known as Groton, Connecticut.

While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercenaries of the English and Dutch. The Indigenous people were ordered from their ceremonial structures and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in their homes. The next day, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 Pequots. Subsequently, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor or President since was to honor that victory, thanking God that the “battle” had been won. The holiday on the 3rd Thursday of November we celebrate is in observation of that massacre and upholds this colonial mentality.

How will you celebrate Thankstaking day?

Full Article: La Prensa

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hahaha awesome. i just googled "rape and pillage thanksgiving" and your page came up first. interesting article.

Anonymous said...

Word

Evan Carden said...

Because it's a celebration for giving thanks, not a celebration of colonial policy. The two are not synonymous.

Anonymous said...

oooh. Now THIS was an awesome article...

I guess most people would say that "now and days, its about family, and thankfulness."

What makes me sad is how we folk over here don't know the right view of world history, and yes, easily forget how this country was founded.

In any case, this is interesting.