‘Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ Scene Called Racist by Some Fans

It’s that time of year where families are ready to overfill their bellies with delicious homemade and baked food items like turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie and much more. Along with that, come traditional television specials like the Macy’s Day Parade, football games and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. However, the animated special is now being called out by viewers as racist.

The hour-long short film, which originally aired in 1973, features Charlie Brown and the rest of his friends as they celebrate the annual holiday and what they’re thankful for, but there’s one scene in particular that fans don’t seem to be fond of.

The special revolves around an impromptu holiday meal after Peppermint Patty invites herself, along with a few others, to Brown and Sally’s house. After a change of plans, Sally and Brown decide to celebrate with two Thanksgivings with the help of their friends Linus, Woodstock and Snoopy. After they set the table and everyone takes their seats, this is where fans quickly realized something: Franklin, the only person of color on the show, is sitting on one side of the table all by himself, while everyone else sits on the other side and on the ends. He also is sitting on a lawn chair while everyone else is sitting on proper furniture.

This scene has caused an uproar on social media each year that it airs. While several annual viewers love the tradition of watching the special, it’s hard for many to overlook that seen without some type of frustration.

While the show has been airing since the 70’s, modern day families are concerned on what this shows its younger audiences today.

It’s been reported in the past that Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz was an outspoken advocate for equal representation, thought that hasn’t stopped people from chiming in with their thoughts on this scene.

On the flip side, there are still plenty of those who are defending the special each year as well.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving first aired on Nov. 20, 1973 on CBS, and continued to air every year on that network up until 2000. The next year it moved over with the other Peanuts special to ABC.