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November 22, 2017 Page 13 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION Thanksgiving and Forging Unity in Divisive Times Praying for a nation’s healing M arC h. M orial “This history of Thanksgiving teach- es us that the Ameri- can instinct has never been to seek isolation in opposite corners; it is to find strength in our common creed and forge unity from our great diver- sity. On that very first thanksgiv- ing celebration, these same ideals brought together people of differ- ent backgrounds and beliefs, and every year since, with enduring confidence in the power of faith, love, gratitude, and optimism, this force of unity has sustained us as a people. It has guided us through times of great challenge and change and allowed us to see ourselves in those who come to our shores in search of a safer, better future for themselves and their families,” – President Barack by Obama 2016. While Thanksgiving is clearly a celebration of gratitude for a boun- tiful harvest, its origin and history in the United States tell an unexpected tale of unity that is particularly relevant in these divisive times. While the early history of the United States is rife with atrocities committed against Native Americans, the “first Thanksgiving” – a three-day feast in 1621 – was a peaceful mo- ment of fellowship between the English settlers and the Wampa- noag among whom they lived. In one of two existing accounts of that feast, Edward Winslow wrote of the “many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Mas- sasoit, with some 90 men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted.” Another English set- tler who arrived shortly after that first feast, William Hilton, wrote in a letter to his cousin described “the Indians round about us” as “peaceable and friendly.” Over the next century and a half, Thanksgiving was celebrat- ed at different times by the sep- arate colonies. The Continental Congress issued the first National Proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1777: “It is therefore recommend- ed to the legislative or executive Powers of these United States to set apart Thursday, the 18th Day of December next, for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise…” Over the year, various days of Thanks- giving would be proclaimed by Congress and Presidents, as well as governors, but an annual, recur- ring, nationwide holiday would not be proclaimed until 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. He was prompted by the writ- ings of magazine editor Sarah Jo- sepha Hale, who wrote to him on Sept. 28, 1863: “You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing in- terest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition and authori- tive fixation, only, to become per- manently, an American custom and institution.” Lincoln’s proclamation was more than a declaration of a hol- iday, but a heartfelt plea for the end of the war and a reunification of the nation. He invited his fel- low citizens not only to set apart the last Tuesday of November “as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” but also to “fervently implore the in- terposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.” In an effort to lengthen the Christmas shopping season and stimulate the economy in the midst of the Depression, Presi- dent Franklin D. Roosevelt briefly changed the date of the holiday to the next-to-last Thursday, but the move was considered an affront to Lincoln’s memory and trig- gered partisan outrage. Nov. 30, 1939, was considered “Republi- can Thanksgiving” and Nov. 23 as “Democratic Thanksgiving” or “Franksgiving”. The experiment appeared to fail, with no measur- able boost to the 1939 and 1940 Christmas shopping seasons. On Dec. 26, 1941, Congress passed a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November, where it has remained – a biparti- san celebration – ever since. It’s instructive that we find the pivotal moments in the develop- ment of modern Thanksgiving in the United States at the time of the Civil War and the Great De- pression. We are once again fac- ing a crisis of division. As we give thanks for the blessings that have been visited upon us, let us also remember to pray for healing and a reunification of our nation. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League. Fragments of Shame, Contrition and Desperate Denial Trapped in ‘a man’s world’ r obert C. k oehler The “man’s world” I grew up is shattering into fragments of shame, contrition and desperate denial. Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse are catching up with powerful perps, sometimes decades after the fact. On Capitol Hill, we now know about a “creep list.” Women shouldn’t ride alone in an elevator with these guys. This is our democracy. The only real surprise in all this is that suddenly it matters . . . that women — as well as young males, children of both genders — were harassed, humiliated, raped by powerful male adults: that “me too” resonates in the news. At one time, outright denial of a sexu- al abuse allegation wasn’t even necessary because, even if it were true, so what? That was then. The idea of “a man’s world” was solid and, well, boys will be boys. “When Nelson got in Moore’s car” — this is Beverly Young Nelson, describing an attempted rape by Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore in 1975 — “she said he drove behind the restaurant and parked near a dumpster in- stead of taking her home. Nelson said Moore groped her and tried by to force her head onto his crotch. Nelson says she yelled and tried to leave the car, but Moore locked the door. “‘I was not going to allow him to force me to have sex with him,’ Nel- son said. ‘I was terrified. I thought he was going to rape me. At some point, he gave up.’ “Nelson said before Moore opened the door — at which point she either fell out or he pushed her out — he told her: ‘You’re just a child and I am the District Attorney of Etowah County, and if you tell anyone about this, no one will ever be- lieve you.’” She was then 16 years old. Tempting as it is to revel tri- umphantly in moral judgment of Moore, the homophobe and evan- gelical hypocrite, I can’t avoid putting his suddenly newsworthy behavior into a larger social con- text, not to let him off the hook but to figure out how real change can occur. Moore and all the other celebs and bigshots caught in the current avalanche of sex-abuse al- legations have at least one thing in common. They grew up in a world where sex was a dirty secret and discussion of it was taboo, except adolescent-to-adolescent: “Did you get any last night?” Men who attain power in such a world do so, often enough, un- encumbered by maturity, which requires respect for the feelings of others. All they have is power and, creepily, a sense of permission. And thus I quote President Trump: “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do any- thing. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” A man’s world is a world that values domination. It values win- ning. At the same time, it devalues “female” qualities: nurturing, em- months ago, a staggering 6,172 cases of sexual assault were re- ported across the military in 2016, out of nearly 15,000 that actually occurred, according to the results of an anonymous survey. Eeri- ly, the good news here is that the number of reported cases has nearly doubled from four years ago, when 3,604 cases were re- ported, out of an estimated 26,000 incidents that occurred. However: “Fifty-eight percent The truth is that the scourge of sexual assault in the military remains status quo. — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand pathy, love. These are for sissies. And the House of Represen- tatives has just approved the Na- tional Defense Authorization Act of 2018, with a military budget of nearly $700 billion to continue our wars around the planet. This is an increase of nearly $80 billion in military spending over 2017 — at a time when virtually all other spending is slashed to the bone. There’s a desperation here the size of an empire. I mention this in the context of domination culture, with the U.S. military leading the way. Accord- ing to a Reuters story from six of victims experienced reprisals or retaliation for reporting sexual assault,” Reuters reported. And: “The truth is that the scourge of sexual assault in the military remains status quo,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said. I hope the “me too” movement doesn’t let up, and that its power and impact begin to penetrate U.S. military culture. I also hope the concept “it’s a man’s world” starts coming undone at the structural level and we start rebuilding our world around deeper values than winning and domination. In that spirit, I also throw some compassion into the mix for the sexual harassers suddenly at the center of unwanted public attention. I know the world in which they grew up; I grew up in it too. This is a world in which young people “come of age” — come into their sexuality — in utter isolation. While violence is lovingly spread across the en- tertainment and news media, sex remains sealed in cringing aver- sion. Remember Jocelyn Elders? She was the former U.S. surgeon general who, at a United Nations conference on AIDS in 1994, had the courage to respond candidly to a question about masturbation. Might teaching children about masturbation reduce unsafe sex? “I think that is something that is a part of human sexuality,” she said, “and it’s a part of something that perhaps should be taught. But we’ve not even taught our chil- dren the very basics.” Oh, the horror! Bill Clinton, re- sponding to the shock and uproar these words provoked, immedi- ately fired her. And thus we live in a world in which powerful men are trapped in their own adolescence. Let’s break the glass ceiling and free everyone. Robert Koehler, syndicat- ed by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and ed- itor.