(AFP) – Millions of Americans are reuniting with loved ones for the Thanksgiving holiday this week, but not 59-year-old Jeff, whose opposition to Donald Trump in the US election has seen him ostracized by his family. “They don’t want to speak with us,” Jeff, who did not want to share his last name to avoid his family cutting him off altogether, said of him and his husband. A real estate agent in Washington, Jeff said his brother “thinks gay people should be sentenced to death” and has not spoken to him for five years due to his sexuality. “My parents and my brother are MAGA supporters. Extreme, extreme MAGA supporters,” Jeff said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political movement.
Thanksgiving, the annual US tradition marked by a feast, will be the first time many Americans reconcile with relatives since the divisive November 5 election. A CBS News poll found that 71 percent of Americans will try to avoid discussing politics during the holiday. But many, like Jeff, will find the tension too much to bear.
– ‘Slap in the face’ – Deb Miedema, 50, has prepared Thanksgiving dinner in the midwestern state of Minnesota for her family for more than two decades — but this year has decided to cancel the festivities. “I can’t imagine preparing a meal for 40 people and half of them are OK with this situation,” she told AFP. “Trump doesn’t stop telling lies, he’s a criminal, and all of that is fine with them.” She said the Republican’s election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, “felt like a slap in the face.”
Laurie Kramer, a psychology professor at Northeastern University, said that people need to find ways to tolerate one another to preserve family relationships. “In our society, we all think that family should be joyous,” she said, but when that is not the case “people feel depressed, alone, isolated.”
– ‘Accept each other’ – Ana, whose name was changed at her request to protect her identity, typically visits her grandmother’s house near Philadelphia, but this year lied that she was sick. “I come from a big Italian family with 18 aunts and uncles. My uncles love Trump,” the 31-year-old said. “I don’t want to see my cousins being raised this way.” She added that Thanksgiving felt like it had come too soon after the US election. “I’m feeling very isolated, alone,” Ana said, adding that she plans instead to mark the holiday with friends in New York.
Spencer Roberts, 35, is in a similar situation after a discussion with relatives about his left-leaning views turned awry on his last trip home. “I was really vocal about being more left and saying some of their thoughts and beliefs were not correct, and that caused a lot of tension in my family,” he told AFP. Kramer, the professor, said that deep political divisions like these have a negative impact on both individuals and families. “We have to accept that everyone is different and find ways to accept each other over our differences to preserve important relationships,” she said.
– Paul NOLP
© 2024 AFP
