The White House News

Several online publications and social media users are urging Americans to reconsider the Thanksgiving holiday while alleging the holiday is a symbol of “colonization” and “racism.”

“Let’s drop the lie of Thanksgiving and begin a Truthsgiving,” a social media post from The Nation read this week that linked to an article with the headline: “Should America Keep Celebrating Thanksgiving?”

In the article, author Sean Sherman, argues that Americans should “decolonize Thanksgiving.”

“For many Americans, the image of Thanksgiving is one of supposed unity: the gathering of ‘Pilgrims and Indians’ in a harmonious feast,” Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, explains. “But this version obscures the harsh truth, one steeped in colonialism, violence, and misrepresentation. By exploring the Indigenous perspective on Thanksgiving, we can not only discern some of the nuances of decolonization but gain a deeper understanding of American history.”

5 COMMON MISTAKES WHEN COOKING A TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING: CHEF LEAH COHEN REVEALS HOW TO AVOID THEM

Sherman writes that Americans, in order to avoid the “tremendous distress to those of us who are still reeling from the trauma” of the Pilgrims landing in America, by promoting the “nutritional and culinary diversity” of Native American foods and “centering the Indigenous perspective and challenging the colonial narratives around the holiday.”

The Nation’s social media post drew strong pushback on social media from users rejecting that Thanksgiving is a symbol of colonization. 

INDUSTRY EXPERT WARNS THANKSGIVING FLIGHTS COULD BE ‘UNSAFE’ AS RECORD NUMBER OF TRAVELERS PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF

“It’s starting to sound like ‘decolonization’ just means ruining any and every tradition and fun time, to be replaced by the narcissistic, jargon-filled rantings of 20-somethings whose infallible knowledge of the world is informed by TikTok,” writer and podcaster Meghan Murphy responded on X.

Other outlets have run similar headlines, including Delish.com, which posted an article in late October titled: “The Dark Truth Behind The Origins Of Thanksgiving.”

In the story, the author outlines how the holiday is “not what you learned in school” and provides ways for Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving differently.

“For example: Seek out Native American authors, activists, artists, and chefs, and support in their work,” the author writes. “Listen to and uplift their perspectives and make sure your support goes beyond Thanksgiving and holidays like Indigenous Peoples Day.”

CRINGEWORTHY THINGS YOUR FAMILY DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS THANKSGIVING

This week, an article by Jason Nichols with the headline “Decolonize Thanksgiving” was published in Newsweek that argued Thanksgiving is an important holiday that should not be lost but “truth should triumph over nationalistic narratives.”

“And the truth about Thanksgiving should be learned by all Americans, as it is a part of our complicated history of savage betrayal and removal of indigenous people and the colonization of their land,” Nichols, a full-time lecturer in the African American Studies department at the University of Maryland, College Park, wrote.

“Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends, but we owe it to our indigenous forefathers to know its history,” Nichols wrote while pointing out, “even if the initial feast was dedicated to peace, the settlers decimated the Wampanoag and other New England indigenous groups soon after through war and disease.”

Abraham Lincoln, in a stirring call to spiritual unity amid the carnage of the Civil War, issued an emotionally powerful Thanksgiving proclamation on Oct. 3, 1863. 

The president invited Americans at home and abroad “to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” 

The tradition of Thanksgiving in America dates back to the first Pilgrim and Wampanoag feast of 1621. President George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving exactly 74 years before Lincoln’s decree on Oct. 3, 1789. 

Fox News Digital’s Kerry J. Byrne contributed to this report

A record high number of American voters say they or someone in their household owns a gun, according to a new survey.

An NBC News national poll finds that a majority — 52% — of respondents say that they or someone in their home owns a firearm. It is the highest number since NBC started asking in 1999. 

Just four years ago, 46% of Americans said they or someone in their household owned a gun in a 2019 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. And a decade ago, in 2013, that number was 42%.

“In the last 10 years, we’ve grown [10 points] in gun ownership. That’s a very stunning number,” Micah Roberts of Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted the poll with Democratic pollster Hart Research, told NBC News. 

GUN PURCHASES BY JEWISH AMERICANS SURGING SINCE OCT. 7 HAMAS TERROR ATTACK, SAYS STORE OWNER

“By and large, things don’t change that dramatically that quickly when it comes to something as fundamental as whether you own a gun,” he said.

The poll finds gun ownership remains highly partisan, as it has for years.

In November, 66% of Republican voters surveyed said that they or someone in their home owns a gun. Just 45% of independents and 41% of Democrats said the same. 

Although Republicans have always owned guns at higher rates than Democrats, this year the highest number of Democrats since at least 2004 said they or someone in their home had a firearm.

FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN MARYLAND GUN LICENSING LAW

Gun sales nationwide spiked last month, which was the third-highest October on record for federal background checks for gun transfers, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), an industry trade group. 

An NSSF report released Nov. 2 found that more than 1.3 million gun checks were completed in October, which was an 8.4% increase over the same month in 2022. 

Mark Oliva, an NSSF spokesperson, told The Reload earlier this month that increased sales “demonstrate the value Americans place on their Second Amendment rights.” He observed that the Oct. 7 massacre of innocents by Palestinian terrorists in Israel, followed by the recent mass shooting in Maine, may have influenced some people to buy their first gun.

“This is telling, given the stark reminders of the importance of the Second Amendment protecting the right for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms and protect themselves and their loved ones,” Oliva told the outlet. “The horrific attacks on Israel followed by the escalating hate speech toward Jewish Americans, coupled with the tragic murders in Maine, are reminders that every American has the right to legally purchase a firearm to provide for their own defense.”

ARMED HOMEOWNER WHO DEFENDED FAMILY IN DRIVEWAY SHOOT-OUT SAYS HE’S BEEN STRIPPED OF GUN PERMIT

Eric Fletcher, a gun store owner in Burbank, California, previously told Fox News he’s seen a surge in Jews and Israelis buying firearms for the first time. 

“No one wants to be feeling like they’re helpless, especially not in their own home, especially not in their offices or where they go every day. People want to feel safe,” Fletcher said on “The Faulkner Focus” Nov. 3.

His store, Burbank Ammo and Guns, processed 203 firearms safety certificate tests in October 2023 compared to 45 last year, marking a more than 450% increase.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We see many, many individuals from the Jewish community who are first-time buyers. And not just the men, but women as well, mothers especially. They want to know what they can do and what they are allowed to do to defend themselves,” he said.

The same trend has been observed in Georgia, where a gun store owner reported a 30% increase in business fueled mostly by Jewish Americans buying their first guns. 

Fox News Digital’s Madeline Coggins contributed to this report.

A former Obama administration official has been captured in a number of viral videos harassing a New York City food cart vendor with racist rants.

The videos, originally posted on X by a Columbia University student on Tuesday, show Stuart Seldowitz, who served as acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate from 2009 to 2011, using disturbing language to mock the unnamed Upper East Side halal vendor’s English-speaking skills, citizenship status and Islamic religion.

“Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did?” Seldowitz asks the vendor in the first video, referring to the Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam. The video shows the vendor repeatedly saying he doesn’t speak English and asking Seldowitz to leave.

MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL SUSPENDS HATE CRIME TASK FORCE MEMBER CLAIMING BABIES MURDERED BY HAMAS WERE ‘FAKE’

Seldowitz then appears to take a photo of the vendor and threatens to send it to his “friends in Immigration” and the Mukhabarat, Egypt’s intelligence agency, before suggesting the organization would torture the vendor’s family by removing their fingernails. It’s unclear if the vendor is Egyptian.

He then calls the vendor “ignorant” for presumably not being able to speak English.

The second video shows Seldowitz harassing the vendor on a separate occasion by asking if he has a permit to sell food on the street and if he has a visa.

MARYLAND HATE CRIME TASK FORCE MEMBER CLAIMED BABIES MURDERED BY HAMAS WERE ‘FAKE,’ COMPARED ISRAEL TO NAZIS

The vendor tells Seldowitz that if he doesn’t intend to buy anything, then he needs to leave, but Seldowitz continues to hound him, appearing to accuse him of being a Hamas supporter.

“You support killing young children,” Seldowitz said, to which the vendor replied, “You kill children, not me. Go.”

“I didn’t kill children,” Seldowitz responded, before saying, “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, it wasn’t enough.”

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT CONDEMNED VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST TARGETING OWN PARTY HQ

Another video posted by a different X user shows Seldowitz again asking if the vendor is in the country legally, before a bystander jumps in to defend the vendor.

After the videos surfaced, Seldowitz told the Daily Beast that they only show one side of the whole story. He admitted to starting up the initial conversation with the vendor but claimed the latter instigated the escalation by expressing support for Hamas.

“I regret the whole thing happened, and I’m sorry,” he later told City & State. “But you know, in the heat of the moment, I said things that probably I shouldn’t have said.”

WATCH: WHITE HOUSE ISSUES BRUTAL RESPONSE TO BIDEN’S ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ NICKNAME GIVEN BY ANTI-ISRAEL CRITICS

“If I had to do it all over again, I would not have raised the religious aspect,” he said. “I don’t think I’m an Islamophobic guy. … I’ve spoken up for equal treatment of Muslims on numerous occasions with numerous different people.”

The New York City-based lobbying group Gotham Government Relations, where Seldowitz was a consultant, ended its relationship with the former Obama official Tuesday evening.

“Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn’t contributed to our work in years,” a statement on group’s website read. “The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm.”