The Brief: Memes about celebrating Thanksgiving in 2020 reflect some of the non-traditional ways people are observing the holiday during a pandemic.
DEEP DIVE
Thanksgiving in a pandemic is something that nobody asked for, but this year, it’s what we’re stuck with. Memes about Thanksgiving 2020 highlight how this year’s celebration and feasts will be unusual, and how people are coping with the stress of the third wave of Coronavirus in the United States.
As health experts and the CDC have encouraged people to avoid traveling this Thanksgiving and to celebrate only with the people they live with, many memes echo this call, asking people not to gather for the holiday in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
This meme highlights just how hard it can be to cancel plans with family:
The original song “Grandma’s Gonna Be A Superspreader” is dark, funny, and sure to get stuck in your head.
According to Mariah, this tweet wasn’t meant to fully cancel the holiday.
THANKSGIVING IS CANCELLED
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) September 21, 2020
Many people have noted how this year’s spread of disease is eerily similar to the original Thanksgiving and its problematic colonial history.
Bringing a deadly disease to people with little to no immunity is a very authentic Thanksgiving reenactment.
— Alex Baze (@bazecraze) November 15, 2020
This tweet, however, notes that such jokes can be insensitive, especially when Native Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and continue to experience the violence of settler colonialism.
Y'all really don't listen. Do not be making the "first Thanksgiving" disease spreading jokes when Native people have repeatedly told non-Natives to not, when our communities are amongst the most impacted of COVID, when our hospitals are 50% underfunded, when genocide is ongoing.
— Tara Moses™ (@TaraTomahawk) November 22, 2020
Ted Cruz has been tweeting about he feels that COVID restrictions and recommendations are infringing on his rights. Naturally, people have been dunking on Ted for his over-dramatic “come and take it” turkey meme and for his failure to take action to slow the spread of this deadly disease.
— The John Wilkes Booth Project (@FowlCurtis) November 22, 2020
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) November 22, 2020
Cursed photos of a pregnant woman and the father of her future baby wearing shirts that say “I’m so stuffed with a little turkey” and “I made the stuffing” are being widely ridiculed online for their corny and not-so-subtle innuendo.
WHAT KIND OF HETERO FUCKERY IS THIS pic.twitter.com/Br17n65bl0
— het struggles (@hetstruggles) November 23, 2020
— jax dell’osso (@jaxdellosso) November 23, 2020
The woman who designed the "I Made The Stuffing" shirts: pic.twitter.com/LngEGtbNdg
— Meg Stalter (@megstalter) November 24, 2020
And finally, here are some non-COVID-related Thanksgiving 2020 memes for when you just want to have a quick laugh about turkey and yams.
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@kevinatwater thanksgiving dinner with some of my closest friends <3 #fyp #foryou #arianagrande #megantheestallion #nickiminaj #lanadelrey #cardib
@ty.hulshof Friendsgiving isn’t complete without some greens #freindsgiving #WhenWeWereYounger #fyp #foryou
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