Today is Thanksgiving, and Americans across the nation will celebrate with bountiful meals and family gatherings. However, while many are celebrating, educators and schools are lamenting, pushing to “decolonize” the holiday.

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From Fox News:

As families across the U.S. gather on Thanksgiving to celebrate one of the nation’s most cherished national holidays, some educators and schools are lamenting the day, pushing back on its “colonial” roots, and incorporating diversity, equality and inclusion DEI into the holiday.

At the University of California, Davis, the California History-Social Science Project, which describes itself as “Resources & professional learning for K-12 history-social science,” hosted a Zoom event called “Decolonizing Thanksgiving in the Classroom.”

“We will discuss reframing classroom practices and rituals about Thanksgiving,” the event description explained. “Centering perspectives from Turtle Island (a name for North America used by some indigenous people) will help us decolonize Thanksgiving and spark new conversations about how to authentically make meaning of this holiday with our students.”

UC Davis isn’t the only school to push back on Thanksgiving. Fox notes that Washington University in St. Louis, a school known for its controversial DEI policies, promoted an event to highlight “the way different cultures recognize and understand Thanksgiving.” According to the school the event is a way to actively contribute to inclusive and equitable practices that influence individual and systemic change.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, meanwhile, invited students to a “Thanksgiving Myth-busting” event designed to explore the “narratives justifying land grabs via colonialism.” The school is also inviting students to attend a National Indigenous Day of Mourning rally at the location of the Mayflower’s landing.

Other schools are taking similar approaches. Across the nation, educational institutions are seeking to characterize Thanksgiving as a time of mourning, highlighting the day’s “painful legacy.” We know, however, that Thanksgiving is a day best spent remembering our nation’s proud history, enjoying time with family and friends, and thanking God for all He has done for us.

This Thanksgiving, let’s pray that Americans would put divisive politics aside and focus on the true meaning of the holiday.

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year? Share your prayers of thanksgiving below.

(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Mys 721tx – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101237507)