I always have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. On the one hand, I am cognizant of the fairy-tale origins of Thanksgiving most of us were taught in elementary school that completely glosses over the mass genocide of native peoples in America. On the other hand, I am thankful for a dedicated time to spend with my family, eat amazing food, and be intentional about our gratitude for one another and the blessing that it is to gather for another year and celebrate family and friendship and the abundance in our lives.
This year, I will be thinking of so many families who are struggling to put food on the table — not just for Thanksgiving, but on a daily basis. There have been so many layoffs and firings across the country, coupled with the decrease and erasure of benefits and the safety nets so many families depend on, I do not know where our country is headed. To see so many families in food lines and dependent on food pantries lets me know something is fundamentally broken in our society. Countless families work multiple jobs and still don’t have enough money to feed their families. Other families are desperate for work and are foregoing meals so other members of their families can eat. Is this what our country has done to its own people?
We have always found money as a nation for the things we want. Currently, the federal government has allocated a budget of $170 billion for border and interior enforcement, with a stated goal of deporting 1 million immigrants each year. People who serve as the backbone of our country, trying to build a better life for their families, are being targeted and deported without due process. So aAs the Republican party complains that these very people are a drain on society, they are more than happy to spend billions of dollars not to uplift people on American soil but punish them in some of the most expensive ways possible.
This Thanksgiving, if possible, we must do what we can to support families in need. No child should go hungry any day of the week, but especially on Thanksgiving. We must continue to pressure our elected officials to fight for additive policies that will ensure a social safety net for those in need. Currently, we are being governed in Washington, D.C., by people who see its own citizens and residents as a problem and unworthy of care, attention, and assistance.
Luckily, many individuals, organizations, schools, religious institutions, and even local elected officials are interested in trying to help others. We must find one another and collectively live up to the true ideals of the spirit of Thanksgiving.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of the books “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.