nov/dec pundit 3
Charles M. Blow
"The Horrible History of Thanksgiving"
The New York Times
Nov. 27, 2019
Blow begins by discussing a set of events many of his readers likely experienced as kids. In an effort to get readers to relate to his story, Blow describes making paper turkeys in elementary school, gathering with family over turkey and dressing, hearing about Native Americans and the Pilgrims eating the first Thanksgiving feast together. He uses this lead up to make his main claim: that much of American history seems more pleasant than it really is because white people have hidden the less-pleasant parts.
While Blow provides ample evidence that this claim is true of Thanksgiving specifically, he leaves it at that. His only other piece of evidence was the Trail of Tears, which he doesn't dive into much detail about. I feel as though Blow's broad claim could have been strengthened by mentioning other marginalized groups, not just the Natives. What about segregation and slavery? Or Japanese internment camps? By leaving out other groups Blow's piece does not live up to his initial claim about American history in general.
However, Blow does appeal to his audience's emotions well by emphasizing how violent and bloody the genocide of the Natives really was.
"The Horrible History of Thanksgiving"
The New York Times
Nov. 27, 2019
Blow begins by discussing a set of events many of his readers likely experienced as kids. In an effort to get readers to relate to his story, Blow describes making paper turkeys in elementary school, gathering with family over turkey and dressing, hearing about Native Americans and the Pilgrims eating the first Thanksgiving feast together. He uses this lead up to make his main claim: that much of American history seems more pleasant than it really is because white people have hidden the less-pleasant parts.
While Blow provides ample evidence that this claim is true of Thanksgiving specifically, he leaves it at that. His only other piece of evidence was the Trail of Tears, which he doesn't dive into much detail about. I feel as though Blow's broad claim could have been strengthened by mentioning other marginalized groups, not just the Natives. What about segregation and slavery? Or Japanese internment camps? By leaving out other groups Blow's piece does not live up to his initial claim about American history in general.
However, Blow does appeal to his audience's emotions well by emphasizing how violent and bloody the genocide of the Natives really was.
I agree that Blow should have provided more evidence to defend his claim. With such a broad and powerful argument, he should have at least gone more in-depth into the one main piece of evidence he referenced, which was the Trail of Tears. The organizational aspects of his article work in his favor though, as he grabs the attention of his readers' by opening with a generic Thanksgiving scene most people can relate to, then diving deeper into his argument later on in his piece.
ReplyDeleteMr. Blow,
ReplyDeleteI like how you get readers to relate to you by including common childhood stories in your piece. This allows readers to feel like they have something in common with the writer and helps them understand the writing style.
I definitely agree that Blow could have used more evidence to back up his claim. Like you mentioned, there are plenty of quality examples of how Americans have hidden the less-pleasant parts of American history, yet Blow sticks to only a few. Perhaps his claim is too broad for the goal he is trying to achieve with this piece.
ReplyDeleteBlow provides an interesting perspective of Thanksgiving and how we focus on unrealistic aspects of history. I agree that other examples would have provided better evidence for his claim, however, since the article was focused around Thanksgiving, it is understandable.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the exposure of history commonly seen as positive or revolutionary, such as Christopher Columbus and the overall mistreatment of Native Americans. It is so important that we shed light on the facts that have been covered up about the abuse and torment the Native Americans experienced during colonization. Blow brought up a wonderful point, but did not convey it as efficiently and effectively as I thought he could.
ReplyDeleteThe author's evidence is insufficient for his broad claim. If the author changed his claim to a more narrow one just about native americans this could have been better, but the evidence is not working for his broad claim.
ReplyDeleteThe claim made by Blow is not one that is new. Although, the claim in Blow's passage is not supported with much evidence, I would love to see someone write an in-depth piece relating to the claim and why whites hide their negative side in history. How do "whites white out their sins", a line from a popular hip hop song that conveys the same message and claim.
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ReplyDeleteI’ll admit: the anecdote at the beginning of the article works quite well. It eases the reader into a soon-to-be-unpleasant discussion of America’s dark history. Except… there are barely three paragraphs dedicated to America’s dark history. I agree with Blow that America’s past is not all sunshine and rainbows, but merely using misconceptions about the Thanksgiving holiday and the existence of the Trail of Tears does not do the discussion justice. There were simply so many perfect examples that Blow could have used but didn’t (as has been clearly proven by the comments here). For someone hoping to disillusion the public about the holiday, I would have expected Blow to at least mention the fact that this holiday was never a celebration of interracial connections between the nation’s founding peoples and its Native Americans but President Abraham Lincoln’s desperate attempt at national unity after the Civil War.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the topic of this piece. It is something not a lot of people talk about, but he should provide more evidence. I think acknowledging other scenarios ad groups and debunking any counterarguments would help his case.
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