“This week we will see our society at its best and at its worst,” starts Edward T. O’Donnell, associate professor of history at the College of the Holy Cross, in an op-ed for WBUR’s Cognoscenti. In the piece, O’Donnell offers insight on the recent American tradition of Black Friday in comparison with the nation’s longstanding holiday, Thanksgiving.
O’Donnell writes about his expertise on the American historical traditions and the origin of Thanksgiving. “We stop what we’re doing, gather with friends and family,” he writes, “and share a meal celebrating what President Abraham Lincoln termed when establishing Thanksgiving in 1863."
O’Donnell holds Thanksgiving’s resistance to holiday commercialization as “incorruptible,” until, of course, the introduction of Black Friday in the early 2000s. “Implicit in the endless ads about ‘doorbuster’ deals was the message that one should ditch the family gathering as early as possible in order to get to the mall,” O’Donnell writes, describing Black Friday as a “cancer” compared to the wholesome traditions of the coming-together across all religions, races, and traditions that Thanksgiving offers Americans.
“But Black Friday is not merely offensive for the way it tarnishes Thanksgiving,” O’Donnell said. “It also violates two core, often overlooked, American values.” O’Donnell discusses how the original republican ideals of the country’s founding are lost in the madness and greed of Black Friday. He calls for a reformation, saying, “let’s dedicate the day after Thanksgiving to pursuits that reflect well on our society and our values by augmenting our sense of gratitude…Above all, avoid a senseless stampede of spending at the malls.”
O’Donnell has offered his insight into American holidays before. He wrote a piece about the relevance of Labor Day to contemporary issues in Newsweek. He is the author of “Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age” (Columbia University Press, 2015) and blogs on American history at www.InThePastLane.com.
Related Information
- Telegram & Gazette, Nov. 29: Sunday Sitdown: HC historian defends Christmas spirit against Black Friday creep
- C-SPAN’s American History TV Airs Edward O’Donnell’s Talk on Inequality in the Gilded Age
- Holy Cross Professor Publishes Book on American Social Activist who Warned of the Dangers of Economic Inequality
This "Holy Cross in the News" item by Emma Collins '16.
