Rizzu Rai, rr193@uakron.edu
After the spooky celebration of Halloween, most people tend to forget about Thanksgiving and move straight to Christmas. Why is this occurrence so normalized? Although Thanksgiving is an important holiday, it is yearly overshadowed by Christmas because of its history which affects its popularity.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday that first took place in Massachusetts in 1941. The Plymouth pilgrims and the Native Americans, more specifically the Wampanoag people, gathered together and shared a feast for the Autumn harvest. It was a celebration of their Autumn harvest success and the unity between the two groups.
Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The first known celebration of the holiday was in Rome in 336 A.D.. Despite this religious background, modern-day Christmas is very different with the addition of mascots and new meanings. This allows for a worldwide celebration of the holiday with 45% of the world population celebrating. Contrary to Christmas, Thanksgiving is only celebrated in approximately 12 countries around the world making it drastically less popular. This is because of its history being a holiday that circulates mainly in the western countries.
I believe that Thanksgiving should still be given appreciation instead of being overshadowed by Christmas because it is a uniting holiday but it is understandable that it is less popular because of the many perspectives the holiday is seen from.
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