HAPPY THANKSGIVING! The immigrant origins of Thanksgiving

Paola Flores-Marquez and Michelle Fordice on the CLINIC website offer some food for thought as we get ready to enjoy turkey with families and friends over Thanksgiving dinner: 

” Thanksgiving owes its popularity to two incidents in United States history: the Civil War and the immigration boom of the 1800s. President Lincoln urged Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving in the spirit of reconciliation while the war raged on, while the later rise in immigration inspired cultural leaders to offer Thanksgiving as an opportunity to welcome newcomers. “

They identify some of the ways immigrants have contributed to the holiday.  As a lover of pumpkin pie, I was pleased to learn that “[I]t was the United States’ first immigrants who decided to combine this indigenous fruit (yes, pumpkin is a fruit) with a quintessential English invention: pie.”

And we should think about how turkeys are raised today:  “Migrant workers employed in poultry plants put in eight to 10 hour days, almost seven days a week to make sure this hearty bird makes its way to your table.”

And a new Thanksgiving tradition?  Tamales!  “The newest of Thanksgiving traditions, tamales have been eaten for millenniums in Latin America.’

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

KJ