Of course, everyone knows that different ethnicities, cultures, and even regions in the United States have their own traditions, which include many things, not just food and Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving is the one holiday where food is the most highlighted event — besides spending time with family. In the south, it’s quite common to see a fried turkey (and other places as well). Sauerkraut is a staple in many communities that were originally settled by German immigrants, and some people might not even realize why it shows up at their Thanksgiving table each year.
Most of the time, cultural differences serve as an opportunity to educate and share information. However, within the past week, there been some hashtags showing up on social media that seem to suggest that Thanksgiving with black families is considered superior to Thanksgiving with white families. That produces quite a few questions — is it really different? Why highlight differences or attempt to cause racial unrest during the holidays? What if your family is both black and white, like a full quarter of the United States population?
when ya mom and aunt both bring macaroni and cheese #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies pic.twitter.com/OVndJhtRGJ
— WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) November 27, 2015
In light of the year-long hashtag war of #BlackLivesMatter, #WhiteLivesMatter, #PoliceLivesMatter, and #AllLivesMatter, many are a little uneasy and defensive about this hashtag that seems to indicate to some individuals that Thanksgiving with black families is somehow more appealing. As a result, #ThanksgivingWithWhiteFamilies has been born.
According to Uproxx , most of the captions are funny and harmless, not meant to invoke any cultural or race wars. Some are bringing a chuckle to people of all races.
#ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies when your mom said bye 10 times but y’all still ain’t left yet pic.twitter.com/3Ir3bvelvU
— Danni (@dopexteen1) November 26, 2015
While the humor is fun and seemingly harmless, some have brought about a bit of controversy. One meme said “WhitePeopleThanksgiving” with a picture of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Another said “BlackPeopleThanksgiving” with a delicious homemade oven-baked photo of macaroni and cheese. As many people pointed out, no one culture holds a monopoly on good food or on baked macaroni and cheese, with many white people quick to reply that they never have anything but homemade macaroni and cheese at their table on Thanksgiving.
It is interesting to see some of the cultural ideas that come about as a result of social pop culture and memes. From the seemingly benign “Everyone’s looking for the last piece of pumpkin pie” to the more distressing issues that are often made fun of because nobody quite knows how to deal with them.
“When your crackhead cousin shows up and everyone scrambles to hide their purse.”
These, or course, are not just issues black people face, which is probably why black Twitter has blown up in a majorly positive way because so many can relate despite their culture or ethnicity.
Regardless if you find them tasteless or funny, the trend is not likely to go anywhere soon, as #ThanksgivingWithWhiteFamilies gains popularity and memes about Christmas and culture are starting to surface as well. Perhaps this is a positive thing for race relations — to show that we can all poke fun at ourselves and relate to each other both. While the country has been racially divided for a while in light of many claims of police brutality, most average citizens report getting along fine with others from other ethnicities, and many have people of other ethnicities and at their own Thanksgiving dinner.
What are your thoughts on the tweets and memes? Funny? True? Tasteless? Causing division between cultures? Were you aware of the trend? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
[Image via Shutterstock]