What The Fuck Is Thanksgiving

To much of the world, Thanksgiving can be a confusing time. To an outsider, it might look like the main point of the holiday is for Americans to gather in clusters and eat a staggering amount of turkey. That's true, but Thanksgiving is also rich in historical significance.

It's easy to bitch about us Americans having a day off of work to cram our neck holes, but we're pretty sure most of you foreign-types have no idea what Thanksgiving is, and, like some guy once said, "Don't knock it until you try it." To find out if the rest of the globe knows, or gives a shit, about Turkey Day, we decided to ask a few immigrants about it.

Vice: Where are you from?
Eric: I'm from Togo.
What's Thanksgiving all about?
The party and the turkey. That’s what I know, and that’s it.
Just the turkey party?
People travel to join their family, or friends gather together and celebrate a turkey. Yeah, the big bird.

Vice: Where's home, Jose?
Jose: I was born in Mexico

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
Not really. However, I do spend time with family or friends, but it’s just like a reunion or something.

If you had to explain Thanksgiving to someone, what would you say?
Well, it’s according to the history. It's when the Europeans, or the Indians helped the Europeans survive the winter or something like that. This is a nice way to be with family, something like that.

Vice: Where are you from?
Wally: Thailand

What do you know about Thanksgiving?
Oh, just what everybody tell me, I know.

What does everyone tell you?
They tell me this is the time for shopping for the holidays.

Yeah, shopping. People eat, too. Did they tell you about that part?
Oh yeah. Everybody have the home and they expect this time for harmony.

Vice: Where were you born?
Iddi: I was born and raised in Ghana.

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family?
No. I don't.

Why not?
Well, because Thanksgiving is the day when Europeans came here and killed all the Indians and stole their food and raped the Indians. That’s why I don’t celebrate that.

How would you explain Thanksgiving to someone?
I don’t think Thanksgiving should be celebrated because what they did to Indians is a terrorist activity. Killing someone and stealing someone’s food and raping their kids and killing their children is not something a human being with a brain and intelligence and humanity would celebrate. Therefore I wouldn’t.

That's quite a description. What are you going to do on Thanksgiving if you aren't eating turkey?
I’m going to go and sell my stuff in Times Square--make my money because I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. They raped them. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

I feel like I'm going to regret answering this question. Yes.
You know why you celebrate that? I want you to record it. Because you white people, the only feelings you feel as a white person, which is you, is for someone who looks like you. Do you understand what I’m saying? The only pains that you feel is those of someone who looks like you, white.

The only sympathy you feel as a white person is someone who looks like you. You have no kindness in you, you’re not a human being. That is why you have no feelings. You have no pains on anybody who doesn’t look like you. You’re standing here celebrating on the backbones of black people who in this country suffer, and the Indians who were killed for the plains.

Your ancestors killed people and abused the blacks in this country. They killed the Indians in this country so that you can enjoy the privilege to dress like that, to come interview me, and go out and party all the time and get drunk and get laid. And when you go back to where you’re from… where are you from?

Michigan.
When you go back to Michigan, I want you to ask your parents, tell them that it’s wrong for them to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is nothing but a death of Indians. I want you to do that when you get home. You don’t offend me. Sorry if I’m very emotional. I’m not upset, I’m a very emotional person. You don’t offend me at all. That’s how we can learn. The best way we can solve the injustice is to communicate.

Vice: Thanks for driving me to Chinatown. Where are you from?
Eduardo: Ecuador.

What's your position on Thanksgiving?
My country is Ecuador. Ecuador no celebration Thanksgiving.

Do you know anything about the holiday?
Eat. That's it. Only America. Ecuador celebration is December 25th and January 1st. We dance and drink all the time.

Vice: Can I ask you a few questions about Thanksgiving?
Victor: Thanksgiving day. Food. It's cold.

Do you know anything about Thanksgiving?
I celebrated it twice. That's about it.