Thanksgiving is known to most Americans as a great holiday to enjoy food, be grateful and give to others. However, there are some people who are against the holiday.

National Day of Mourning is an annual protest against Thanksgiving created by Native Americans who have been affected by the holiday. It is known that John Winthrop created Thanksgiving as a celebration of colonists slaughtering 700 Pequot men, women, and children. The National Day of Mourning was created by people whose ancestors were killed. The group was also created to help end racism towards Native Americans.

In 1621, the official first thanksgiving was held. American schools teach that the Native Americans helped the English grow food and all was good. They don’t teach about the slaughter of hundreds of Native Americans that the colonists were responsible for. It is understandably frustrating when millions of people are celebrating a holiday involved with the violence and misery many people’s ancestors had to go through.

Another reason why you shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving is food waste. It is estimated this Thanksgiving around 200 million pounds of Turkey will go to waste. Another 40 million pounds of mashed potatoes, and 30 million pounds of stuffing will go to waste. Food waste is a massive problem in America, and Thanksgiving only feeds that flame. With this holiday being mostly about food, it is a spark for irregular amounts of waste. 95% of that wasted food ends up at landfills which creates another problem. When the food sits in a landfill, it decays and produces methane which leaves a heavy impact on the earth.

Did you know that there is no public record of a turkey being eaten on the first Thanksgiving? Yet nearly 400 years later, Americans eat around 46 Million turkeys each year.

With Thanksgiving coming up, hopefully you’ll think twice before celebrating the holiday that many people despise.