7 Thanksgiving controversies: Date change, mentions of God, ‘Day of Mourning’

By Michael Gryboski, Editor
Thursday, November 28, 2024

U.S. President Joe Biden (R) pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey Peach, alongside Chair of the national turkey federation John Zimmerman and his son Grant during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Peach, and the alternate turkey Blossom, were raised in Northfield, Minnesota, and continue a White House tradition going back to the Truman administration in 1947. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Thanksgiving is a time known for bringing families together for large meals and socializing, watching football games and parades, and expressing gratitude.

However, Thanksgiving can also be a time of controversy, and not only when gatherings involve having relatives of different political and religious views together for hours on end.

Be it efforts to change when the annual observance is held, different perspectives on its significance, or even deciding who had the first one, Thanksgiving can be a source of many headline-grabbing debates.

Some of these issues have been resolved with time, while others continue to crop up every November when people think about the federal holiday and its broader meaning.

Here's a list of seven controversies surrounding Thanksgiving.