President Lincoln Set The Stage

It was Abraham Lincoln, remember, who, in 1863, officially proclaimed that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the final Thursday in November. And that’s how it’s been ever since. I don’t know how Thanksgiving worked before that year — does anyone? All I know is that everything was cool until the wokesters came along and began to throw shade upon the origins of Thanksgiving, or more precisely the relations between white settlers and Native Americans.

In episode #4 of Mary Smith Metzler’s Maid miniseries (Netflix, streaming since 10.1), Margaret Qualley’s “Alex,” a recently split-up single mom, is asked by her daughter what Thanksgiving is.

Her answer basically means wokesters regard this late–November family holiday as problematic, due to the history of white settlers’ mistreatment of Native Americans. And yet…

History.com: “The [50 year] alliance between the Pilgrims and the {Massachusetts] Wampanoag tribe, remains one of the few examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.“

For what it’s worth: For 50 years the Massachusetts relationship between Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe was more or less at par, and mutually respectful. Note: It is the sad fate of Margaret Qualley’s “Alex” character (I’ve watched episodes #4 through #7) to be disappointed and undermined by those around her. On one hand she’s damaged goods, and yet she lives on a sort of heroic noble island and is therefore quite alone and isolated. 25 and struggling and probably stuck there until further notice. She comes from a dysfunctional family (formerly brutal alcoholic dad, presently flaky hippie mom), has had a child with a sober dude who began drinking at age nine and who may fall off the wagon. She’s treated brusquely by her cleaning business employer, and by state assistance reps. And yet she rebuffs romantic interest from a stable, single-dad nice guy of Middle-Eastern descent while impulsively re-starting a sexual thing with sober dude dad.