Black Friday was originally known for the color used when accounts made a profit. Now it has become an annual event representing capitalistic, consumer-driven America.

Every year, thousands of people wake up early and rush to shopping malls to take advantage of clearance deals and sales instead of enjoying Thanksgiving and spending the day with their families. While this used to be reserved for the day after Thanksgiving, this “event” has crept into Thanksgiving day itself.

Black Friday should be kept to the weekend and should not be allowed to intrude on Thanksgiving traditions.
Stores like Macy’s, J.C.Penney, Kohl’s and Sears announced that they will be opening up at 6 p.m. Nov. 26, when most families are enjoying a nice Thanksgiving feast.

According to a 2013 Market Watch article, stores feel pressure to open on Thanksgiving to follow their competitors or risk losing their customers. They want to get a jump on any competition.

Although many stores think opening on Thanksgiving Thursday rather than the Friday after will boost their sales, it ultimately has a minor effect on the store’s total income.

According to a November 2015 Fortune article, opening on Thanksgiving only spreads the sales throughout the weekend, so retailers such as Costco have deemed the practice unnecessary.

Consumers have the choice to cut their Thanksgiving festivities short, but for retail workers, Black Friday is their job. Employees are forced to give up time with their families just to spend long hours selling merchandise to rowdy customers. Many of these workers are making low wages and their hard, grueling work is not worth the cost of missing an important family holiday.

Stores like Costco and Nordstrom are standing up to the pressure from other shops to open earlier in order to fulfill customers demands. Instead they are just opening up early on the Friday.

According to a 2014 Huffington Post article, stores have seen few benefits from opening on the Thursday and want their employees and customers to enjoy the holiday with their families.

Not only is this event promoting material goods over family, it ultimately forces people to resort to their most primal instincts. People feel that in order to get a coveted product, they must fight for it by any means necessary.

According to a Houston, TX ABC affiliate, people were literally throwing themselves onto TVs last Black Friday at Wal-Mart to claim them. Other instances include shootings over certain items at a Nordstroms in Chicago last year.

Today, almost anything can bought online on Cyber Monday, therefore the rush and pandimonium for Black Friday is unnecessary when one could be ordering gifts online from their couch.

The movement called Boycott Black Thursday despises the intrusion onto Thanksgiving and urges the masses to #keepfamilyfirst and not fall into corporate traps. The Facebook page has over 100,000 likes and is growing.

Thanksgiving is a holiday where one should be thankful for what they have and not feel the need to go out and buy more. Save that for the day after.