Well, the Pilgrims just got an upgrade from the left. Whereas most Thanksgivings lefty media types disparage Pilgrims as genocidal racist imperialists, this year The Huffington Post wants us to remember they were a persecuted minority fleeing violence … just like the Syrian refugees liberals have decided America absolutely must accept. What a coincidence!
On Monday, Huffington Post published a piece titled “This Thanksgiving, Remember America's Pilgrims Were Refugees, Too.” In it, associate politics editor Igor Bobic compared the plight of the pilgrims to that of the Syrian refugees by declaring that American history boasts a tradition of “giving shelter to the oppressed.”
“As you prepare for your Thanksgiving Day feast,” he began, “it's worth keeping in mind that the U.S. has a long history of taking in refugees.” Bobic continued by detailing the history of the pilgrims who “fled persecution in their home countries.”
“When the Mayflower pilgrims landed in New England in the early 17th century,” he wrote, “they established a harvest celebration that would later become known as Thanksgiving by sitting down with Native Americans gracious enough to share their land and way of life.”
Of course he added, “And, well, we all know how that turned out.” But today, the pilgrims are embodied in the Syrian refugees, he argued.
After the Paris attacks, the “incendiary rhetoric over Syrian refugees and whether to admit them into the U.S.” is “at odds with the United States’ historical role in the world – that of giving shelter to the oppressed,” he wrote.
To his credit, Bobic named what he deemed “valid arguments” from his opposition, such as security and vetting refugees. But, he countered:
“But describing some refugees – women, children, and families – as rabid dogs or terrorists and spreading falsehoods about blacks and Muslims, however, demeans the very same principle of American exceptionalism (and Thanksgiving!) many candidates frequently tout on the campaign trail.”
Absolutely. That kind of language should be used only for white Europeans.
Make no mistake. To lefties, the Pilgrims were still the worst thing ever to happen (barring Christopher Columbus and that annoying Constitution thing) and next year it will be back to our regularly scheduled vilification. But right now they’re a convenient turkey leg to beat conservatives with.
