We need to leave racism and ethnicity divisional attitudes and thinking in the past
Thanksgiving has always been a day wrapped in warmth, memory, and stories. We sit with family, share food, and talk about the things that matter. But underneath the holiday lies a very old story—a story about people who looked different, lived different, and believed different. It is a story of first meetings, misunderstanding, fear, and harm that should guide us toward a better path today.
As we face the Climate and Ecological Emergency together, this Thanksgiving may be one of the most important moments for honest conversations. We must look at where we have been and choose a future that lifts all people rather than repeats the wounds of the past.
A Hard Truth Hidden in History
From the first arrivals of European settlers, people who looked different—people with darker skin, different languages, and separate traditions—were marked as “other.” They were pushed aside, colonized, mistreated, and sometimes erased. Many Indigenous cultures faced violence, disease, and land theft. Many groups were enslaved or treated as tools rather than people. Among the most damaging actions came from light-skinned groups who believed God or destiny gave them the right to take, rule, and judge. But the cause was never the color of their skin—it was the mix of fear, religious superiority, and deep misunderstanding.
Fear of difference has always been one of humanity’s weakest habits. It is an instinct that kept early people alive, but today it poisons our relationships, our communities, and our future. In the old stories, one group was often painted as good and the other as bad. Lightness was linked to purity and darkness to danger. These ideas still linger, and they still harm.
The Four Wolves: A Better Way to See Ourselves
My father once told me a version of the famous “two wolves” lesson. Many people know the simple version: one bad black wolf sits on one shoulder and one good white wolf sits on the other. My father explained that this story itself feeds a harmful idea—that color decides nature.
Instead, he said there are really four wolves. On the left shoulder, two wolves stand together: one black and one white, both good. On the right shoulder, two more: one black and one white, both bad. In this version, color says nothing about character. One person can do good or evil regardless of how they look. As my father would say, “It’s not the shade of the wolf, it’s the choice of the wolf.”
This way of seeing the world cuts through racism because it forces us to look at the truth: behavior comes from upbringing, fear, culture, and trauma—not skin tone. This Thanksgiving, that wisdom matters more than ever.
Today’s Immigrants, Yesterday’s Story
Across the United States today, Latina and Latino families—and many other immigrant groups—are treated with growing hostility. They are blamed for problems they did not cause, targeted because of their accents, their roots, and their hopes for a better life. Instead of being welcomed as neighbors, many face threats, fear, and unfair laws.
This moment echoes the earliest days of settlers on this land. Back then, the newcomers were the ones arriving frightened, starving, and unsure. They survived only because Indigenous tribes helped them. Yet within a few generations, those same tribes faced violence and betrayal.
Today, we see a similar pattern forming. Once again, people arriving with courage and dreams are treated as enemies. Once again, people fear differences more than they fear injustice.
But we do not need to repeat this.
A Thanksgiving Call for Courage and Compassion
Thanksgiving can be more than a holiday—it can be a turning point. We can choose to rise above old habits. We can choose compassion over suspicion. We can choose community over division. We can choose to see all four wolves on every shoulder and judge by actions, not appearances.
A fictional historian once wrote,
“Empires fall when people forget they belong to each other.”
This is a truth we must hold close.
Why This Matters Now More Than Ever
We are living in the age of a global Climate and Ecological Emergency. Storms are stronger, oceans are warmer, fires spread faster, and food systems are under strain. This is not something far away. It is here. And it will test every community.
If we waste our energy fighting each other—over race, ethnicity, borders, or skin color—we will not have the strength to meet this moment. The emergency will not care about our divisions. Drought will not ask for passports. Floods will not avoid certain neighborhoods out of fairness. Heatwaves will not check citizenship papers.
The future will require something we have forgotten—Adaptive Resiliency, built on cooperation, trust, and shared survival.
Children Already Know the Way
If you watch children on a school playground, before they learn adult divisions, you will see another truth. Kids play with anyone willing to play. They do not judge by color or background. They look for teammates, friends, laughter, and adventure. They work together to build forts, share swings, and chase dreams.
Only later do they learn division. That means division can be unlearned. It also means adults need to change first.
Kids today will inherit a climate-shaken world. Their best chance for survival is learning cooperation, problem-solving, empathy, and teamwork—not competition based on differences.
AI as a Tool for Unity
Artificial Intelligence, when guided with ethics and compassion, can help us build a fairer world. It can teach, translate, connect, warn, and support communities as they face climate impacts. It can help us design safer cities, predict storms, and reduce harm. But AI is only as good as the hearts guiding it.
If we fill the future with anger, AI will learn anger.
If we fill it with compassion, AI will learn compassion.
This choice belongs to us.
A New Path Forward: From Harm to Opportunity
The Climate and Ecological Emergency, as frightening as it is, also gives us a rare chance to re-shape society. We can:
- build communities that welcome instead of exclude
- encourage immigrant voices in leadership
- teach children cooperation from a young age
- break the old stories about lightness and darkness
- uplift science, collaboration, and dialogue
- embrace Adaptive Resiliency as the path forward
- bring people together through shared purpose
- learn from Indigenous stewardship traditions
- use AI to support justice and unity
A fictional community leader once said,
“A crisis is not the end of a story—it is the moment people finally decide what kind of future they deserve.”
We deserve one built on dignity.
Thanksgiving 2025: A Moment for Honest Talks
As you gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving, talk about the future. Talk about safety, preparation, food security, and compassion. Talk about what your children will face. Talk about how we can rise together and not fall apart.
And if the spirit moves you, consider joining Climate Tribe Social (climatetribe.social) when it opens in early Spring 2026. It is a space meant for cooperation, learning, and building the kind of world we want our children to inherit—a world guided by courage rather than fear.
Closing Thought
Humanity has always carried the four wolves within. Every generation chooses which wolves to feed through action, teaching, and compassion. We can leave the old patterns behind and build a future where all people—immigrant or native-born, light-skinned or dark-skinned—stand together against the challenges ahead.
This Thanksgiving, let our gratitude be more than words. Let it be a promise to rise above the past and walk forward with unity, empathy, and Adaptive Resiliency.
Tito et Eva…
empowerment & inner transformation... 
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