In response to Sarah Quam's article "Know the truth as you celebrate this Thanksgiving" (Nov. 17).
Yes, I will teach my children the truth but I will not teach them selective truth. I will not teach them slanted truth nor will I teach them half truth that is designed to bash Americans of European decent.
I will teach my children that all cultures and all races of people have had their darkest hour. I will teach them that all people have suffered injustices at the hands of others. I will teach them that injustice is not merely a white mans' ailment but a human ailment.
But more important than that I will teach them to focus on what has been done that is positive and good. I will teach them to be thankful of their heritage, to be thankful their forefathers had the insight, tenacity and vision to move across the ocean never to return to their homeland so that they and their decedents could have a better tomorrow. I will teach my children to be thankful their ancestors had the will to settle a land that had not been settled and to carve out a nation that has provided the highest standard of living than any group of people has ever seen.
We live in a nation that can legitimately claim that its poorest people live better and have a higher standard of living than the average world citizen. Our nation had benefited not only itself but has given out more financial aid and has been instrumental in freeing more people of the world than any nation on earth.
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In our house we will celebrate and be thankful for what we have this Thanksgiving Day as I believe all people of all heritages should. For all of us irrelevant of the color of our skin, irrelevant of the road of history we followed to get here have so much to be thankful for.
Duane Keller
Dilworth, Minn.
