AMBASSADOR Robert Holmes Tuttle
Speeches, Remarks & Events
23 November 2006
Ambassador Tuttle's Thanksgiving Day Speech in St. Paul's Cathedral
Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who have gathered in this place of awe and reverence to celebrate this day with us.
Thanksgiving - born of our particular combination of history and varied cultures - is expressed in the most straightforward of gatherings.
Many of the customs we follow today were brought to the United States on the human tide that flowed into our country at the end of the 19th, and beginning of the 20th, century.
European steamers made their way into American ports, overflowing with immigrants escaping hunger, oppression and poverty.
In the words of the inscription that greeted them on the Statue of Liberty, they were the world's "tempest tossed," "huddled masses," "yearning to breathe free." They were poor, frightened people, who sought refuge and a new life on our shores.
The stories those immigrants told of their homelands, as well as their tales of survival in the new world, fascinated at least one author right here in London.
Israel Zangwill, a young Jewish man, born of Russian immigrants, presented the stories of those communities, and, in 1908, created one of the most enduring expressions of the American experience. He called his play, "The Melting Pot."
It spoke of hardship and history – of family division and religion. But above all, it was about hope, and the future, and a country's promise to those who made that journey – some 18 million people between 1890 and 1920 alone – that it truly was a new world.
Immigrants could bring nothing but their dreams and become Americans. They would be what that play called "a new alloy," forged in the "crucible" of democracy, freedom and civic responsibility.
Most found contentment, and benefited greatly from the bounty the new land offered, in "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
On this Thanksgiving Day, my vast country stops to remember and renew our sense of community; to recognize the fact that, while we are different, and those differences are crucial to our personal identity, we benefit from our interactions with those not like ourselves. Our identity is enhanced, not diminished, by open exchange and we are positively changed by that interaction.
America is the coming together of those from faraway homelands. Individuals and groups – communities and neighborhoods – created a new America. And nowhere is that exchange more poignant or better demonstrated than in the simple ritual of the sharing of a meal.
The "feast" is arguably the world's most ancient tradition. The peoples of every religion – and of none – use the breaking of bread as both a rite and a celebration. Sometimes it is a marker of a special event, but as often as not, it has been a timeless expression of gratitude for the harvest.
The sharing of food is something so basic and so public – but at the same time so specific and so private – it only needs the people who gather strength from it.
Many make it a point to open their homes to those who find themselves far from loved ones, or with no home at all, because it is also a time to share whatever we might have, with those who have not. Families come home, and strangers become neighbors.
It is a time to remember the simple blessings of life, and to build closer bonds to those around us. It is our opportunity to reaffirm our shared humanity.
To me, your own playwright summed up the excitement of America and the faith of this day better that I could ever hope to, in his conclusion to that play:
"There she lies, the great melting pot, listen! Can't you hear the roaring and the bubbling? … What a stirring and a seething! Celt and Latin, Slav and Teuton, Greek and Syrian, black and yellow, Gentile and Jew, East and West and North and South, the palm and the pine, the pole and the equator, the crescent and the cross. How the great alchemist melts and fuses them … Here shall they all unite to build the republic of man…"
If I can't be at home, I am very happy to be in the United Kingdom –
our nation's closest friend – to share this important day. Maria and I want to give our thanks to the people of this great country for the warmth and generosity you have shown us over the course of our first year here.
And I also particularly want to give thanks and to remember those who are even farther from their homes, risking their lives and serving our two countries in far-flung places so that we might enjoy this feast in safety and in peace.
It is now my privilege to read you President Bush's Thanksgiving proclamation:
"As Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, we give thanks for the many ways that our nation and our people have been blessed. Our citizens are privileged to live … Where the hope of the American dream is within the reach of every person. Americans share a desire to answer the universal call to serve something greater than ourselves, and we see this spirit every day in the millions of volunteers throughout our country who bring hope and healing to those in need. On this Thanksgiving Day, and throughout the year, let us show our gratitude for the blessings of freedom, family, and faith, and may God continue to bless America."
We are honored to be here in this great British house of worship and to share this Thanksgiving Day with you - our friends and neighbors.
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Speeches, Remarks & Events