America’s Table: A Thanksgiving Reader is
published by the American Jewish Committee’s
Belfer Center for American Pluralism in
cooperation with the following partner
organizations:
National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP)
National Council of La Raza
National Urban League
AMERICA’S
TABLE
Cuban American National Council
Islamic Supreme Council of America
Japanese American Citizens League
Joint Center for Political
and Economic Studies
The Ameican Jewish Committee
Advancing democracy, pluralism
and mutual understanding
The Jacob Blaustein Building
165 East 56 Street
New York, NY 10022-2746
www.ajc.org
November 2002
A Thanksgiving Reader
America is undaunted.
Since 9/11, many of us feel less secure and all
of us are more vulnerable. Photo ID checks
and other security measures alter daily routines
with reminders that, as life has returned to
normal, normal has changed. At the same time,
we affirm that America’s ultimate security
comes from its openness.
Thanksgiving commemorates that openness.
Americans of all backgrounds celebrate our
nation in similar ways, many as spectators
at parades and football games and as participants at feasts in the warm presence of family
and friends.
America’s Table: A Thanksgiving Reader ™
reminds us of the holiday’s significance.
Intended to be read aloud before the
Thanksgiving meal, it retells America’s
story and helps us express our gratitude
for being part of it.
A leader can designate parts.
Or simply go around the table taking turns.
We are each on a journey.
Our families came from many different
places, but share a common land, America.
We are each part
of America’s journey.
It was a difficult journey for many and an
unjust passage for some. But America has
become the sum of our unique contributions.
We are each responsible
for keeping America
on course.
We draw strength from each other knowing
that, in America, each of us is entitled to
a place at the table.
Additional copies of America’s Table:
A Thanksgiving Reader™ and other readings are
available at AJC’s Web site: www.ajc.org.
November 2002
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We are each on a journey.
For some it began here. Most arrived from across
the seas, centuries ago and yesterday. Today there
are more than 280 million of us.
It has not always been a righteous
journey.
In 1621, when the Pilgrims celebrated their first
harvest with the Wampanoag, at least 40 other tribes
inhabited the Northeast. Most were devastated by a
new nation’s need to cultivate and build. Their names
are recalled in land and waters that nourish us:
Algonkin, Delaware, Erie, Huron
Iroquois, Massachuset, Mohegan
Narragansett, Pequot, Shawnee
“I was raised on this land where the sun rises—
now I come from where the sun sets. Whose
voice was first sounded on this land?”
Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota Sioux
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It has not always been a voluntary
journey.
In 1619, one year before the Mayflower carried the
Pilgrims to freedom in Plymouth, a Dutch ship
delivered North America’s first Africans to slavery
in Jamestown.
By 1790, America’s first census recorded 697,624
African slaves, nearly 20 percent of the population.
By 1860, the number reached almost 4 million.
“I was born in Mississippi. The family was separated.
My two sisters and my papa was sold to a man in
Georgia. They put me on a block and bid me off.
That was in New Orleans and I was scared and
cried, but they put me up there anyway. After a
while, master Mose Davis came from Cold Spring,
in Texas, and bought us. He was buying up little
children for his children.”
Sarah Ashley, at age 93, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the
Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938
“ …Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
‘ Eat in the kitchen,’
Then.
…I, too, am American.”
Langston Hughes, I, Too, Sing America
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It has not always been an easy journey.
Since the mid-1800s, immigrants and refugees fleeing
poverty and oppression in Europe, Asia, and Latin
America often traveled to America fortified with little
more than hope and tenacity. They were drawn by
America’s promise.
“People kept arriving
As the cane fields dried
Flying bushes from another
Planet …
Vegetables and tree bark
Popping out of luggage…
Victor Hernández Cruz, The Lower East Side of Manhattan
from El Coro, A Chorus of Latino and Latina Poetry
We are each part of America’s journey.
We did not leave heritage behind, like unwanted baggage, at immigration’s door. It is a vital aspect of who
we are as individuals and what we have become as a
nation. Our differences enrich America in many ways.
“ I believe that you have inherited from your
forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a
prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a
gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.”
Kahlil Gibran
“ The future is a train of immigrants
dressed in prophecies,
Circling the mountainside like drumbeats.”
Diane S. Mehta, America from Living in America: Poetry and
Fiction by South Asian American Writers
PHOTO: New York City Public Library
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Our backgrounds distinguish us.
American democratic values and institutions unite us.
Daily life binds us.
We push shopping carts in the same aisles and
drive cars on the same highways.
We wear the same baseball caps and sit next to each
other in the stands.
We share much in common, but our similarities
do not make us all the same.
If some of our activities seem trivial, their impact is
not.They are the unremarkable evidence that America
works. By not fearing differences, we are free to
celebrate them.
“Remember that when you say, ‘I will have none
of this exile and this stranger, for his face is not
like my face and his speech is strange,’ you have
denied America with that word.”
Stephen Vincent Benét
“ …By setting an example, we may one day in the future
concern ourselves not so much with values worth dying
for—but with values worth living for.”
Mohammad Alam, High School Essay Contest winner,
The Skirball Institute on American Values
PHOTO: Amy Rothblatt
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We are each responsible for keeping
America on course.
Like children, we may ask, “Are we there yet?”
But we know the answer.
We pursue justice.
But still encounter inequality.
We celebrate freedom.
But not everyone is yet free.
Our table is brimming.
But some go hungry.
Progress can be slow as we propose and protest,
advocate and debate. But we are ever grateful to
be part of this tumult of democracy. We enjoy its
unparalleled privileges and accept its obligations:
To pursue our dreams while helping others.
To advance our convictions while respecting others.
To prepare our children for the cherished gift of
the American journey that is theirs.
Questions from the U.S. Citizenship Test:
1. What is the 49th state added to our Union?
2. How many Supreme Court justices
are there?
3. What is the basic belief of the Declaration of
Independence?
Answers: 1. Alaska; 2. 9; 3. That all people are created equal.
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We are the stewards of America—
her ideals and institutions, her cities and natural beauty.
We are entrusted to understand America’s past and
guide her future. To create an ever more just America
that is secure and free, abundant and caring, for all
its inhabitants.
We are thankful to live in this country where a unifying
national holiday brings together people of diverse backgrounds in peace and festive thanksgiving around
America’s table.
Let us express our gratitude using these written words
—or our own words.
We are thankful for the freedom to worship.
We are thankful for the freedom from hunger.
We are thankful for the freedom to challenge our minds.
We are thankful for the freedom to change our minds.
We are thankful for the freedom to chart our lives.
We are thankful for the freedom to work
for a better world.
We are thankful for the freedom to celebrate this day.
“ For shelter and freedom, for love and beauty,
For all the harvest of earth and sun,
Of talent and spirit,
For all Your blessings, we give thanks to You.”
Ruth Brin, Sukkot, from Harvest: Collected Poems and Prayers
PHOTO: left and cover © Joseph Sohm; ChromoSohm Inc./CORBIS
Thanksgiving Day Parade
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