The recently appointed D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson has called for Thanksgiving to be “decolonized”.
The 48-year-old candidate’s letter, released on Thursday, states that with Thanksgiving coming up later this month, it’s the perfect time to express gratitude and love for our origins.
Wilson writes that he’s concerned with how the holiday is “used by people to symbolize and elevate notions of oppression,” according to Capital One.
“I realize that many people gather around their table to celebrate the coming together of ancestors,” he wrote. “I respect this. But it does not give us license to use this shared narrative to appeal to and win favor with a marginalized people group, particularly as we enter our increasingly divided world.”
D.C. is a majority-minority city, according to a recent Capital One bank survey. Wilson, a single father, has garnered attention for helping to change both the district’s leadership and its reputation. He is black.
The Bank of America/Moody’s survey in March found that 44% of African-Americans nationally view the D.C. school system negatively.
