When I first got to this country, Thanksgiving seemed like a nice holiday. It was non-denominational, you didn’t have to believe any particular thing, and it involved being thankful. What was not to like?

In the meantime, it’s become obvious that Thanksgiving also celebrates the beginning of the displacement of the indigenous population from their land. Not so simple anymore.

Now, I was born in Germany. Having been born as a “2nd Generation” German, the one thing that I’ve had to do is educate myself and face history. I’ve had to face it squarely, not shirk from it, not minimize it, not to try to explain it away. 

While white Europeans were driving indigenous people off their land, my forefathers were assembled in feudal city states fighting each other, and getting their collective asses kicked by Napoleon. My forefathers had nothing to do with the displacement of  the indigenous population.That doesn’t prevent me from grieving deeply for the Native Americans and how they were displaced from their own land. 

While the Austrians were the big fish in the German-speaking world, white Europeans were driving the slave trade into North America. Germany wasn’t even united under Otto von Bismarck until 1872, or eight years after the emancipation proclamation. My forefathers had nothing to do with American slavery. That doesn’t prevent me from grieving deeply for African Americans through the centuries and how they were enslaved and subsequently treated in this country.

When I became an American, I also acquired the duty to educate myself about slavery and the displacement of Native Americans. And to all those snowflakes out there who don’t want their children to be “uncomfortable” learning about American history, I say, if I can learn about the Holocaust, your children can learn about slavery and the displacement of Native Americans. If Ruby Bridges can live through integration your children can learn about Ruby Bridges.

So, when it comes to Thanksgiving, I don’t celebrate the “cooperation” between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, but I’m simply grateful for the life that I am allowed to lead here, or frankly, anywhere.