Twitter breaks down why that famous Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special is actually racist

Nov 26, 2018

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving thegrio.com — ABC

Watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a pre-Thanksgiving tradition for many people across the nation. ABC has aired the cartoon since 1973.

However, in the era of more consciousness about race relations, the 1973 cartoon which was aired last week, raised eyebrows for being racist. At issue is how the Black character Franklin is seen eating alone on one side of the Thanksgiving table while the white characters are joined together on the other side, Yahoo reports.

“Why is Franklin in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving sitting all by himself at the table,” asked one Twitter user. “Man. Things that I did not notice as a child.”

“Not watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving anymore, until they sit some people on the same side of the table as Franklin,” another critic tweeted.

And to add insult to injury, others noted, Franklin is sitting in a lawn chair.

“They give our friend the busted chair and won’t even sit on the same side of the table, more proof that Charlie Brown and his cohorts are RACIST,” a social media commentator said.

However, others noted that the cartoon’s creator, Charles Schultz developed the Franklin character after a teacher wrote to him and asked for a Black child to be included. Schultz added Franklin in hopes that it would help race relations in the US back in 1968.

However, old habits die hard and even though there are plenty of other cartoons ABC could use in place of the old stereotypical one, the Charlie Brown special still ends up getting a slot during the holidays each year.

The Harts Thanksgiving Birthday Controversy

Also over Thanksgiving, people took aim at comedian Kevin Hart and his wife Eniko after they celebrated their son Kenzo’s first birthday with a ‘Cowboys and Indians’ party theme, which folks heavily criticized.

Many called it “disgusting” and an assault against Native Americans heritage, Yahoo reports.

“Zos cowboys & indians party was nothing but amazing! Thanks to everyone for coming.. we love you guys!” Eniko Hart wrote on Instagram Thursday, along with a picture of family and friends outfitted in Native American garb who attended the first birthday festivities.

Social media, however, let them have it saying that indigenous people have always taken offense to cowboys and Indians parties.

“Disgusting. This is equivalent to having a kkk and black slaves party. #interminorityappropriation,” wrote @smitmk01.

Others urged the Harts to look at the party celebration from different lenses, comparing it to blackface and insensitive for using native culture and garb as costumes.