Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown and Racism ... a year later

ABC

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought I would link to the post I wrote a year ago about Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown and racism. Coming off such a crazy election season, with accusations of racism, bigotry, xenophobia, homophobia, and so many other phobias and isms filling our daily news cycle, I looked at this blog post and realized it is still pretty relevant, perhaps more so this year than last.

The election was stressful for many, and politics is probably a subject that should be avoided at many a Thanksgiving dinner this year, especially if a sufficient amount of wine is consumed. So my Thanksgiving wish is for people to assume the best in each other, instead of jumping to the worst of conclusions about people with whom they disagree. I try to teach my kids to do this--life's just easier that way.

And what does this have to do with Charlie Brown? Well, read the blog post and then ask yourself what should people see when they watch the cartoon clip?  In the end, no one can know what the animators were thinking or what their intentions were nearly 50 years ago. Why assume the worst? Why not focus on the good in the story - the debut of the first African-American Peanuts character?

Or even better, how about not thinking about race at all, and just enjoy the story of Good Ol' Charlie Brown trying to please a demanding Peppermint Patty with a Thanksgiving dinner filled with toast, popcorn and jellybeans? I might enjoy that more than turkey anyway.

And have a Happy Thanksgiving!