“The tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the US is a wonderful allegory for new racism. Every year, the National Turkey Federation presents the US president with a turkey for Thanksgiving. Every year, in a show of ceremonial magnanimity, the president spares that particular bird (and eats another one). After receiving the presidential pardon, the Chosen One is sent to Frying Pan Park in Virginia to live out its natural life. The rest of the 50 million turkeys raised for Thanksgiving are slaughtered and eaten on Thanksgiving Day. ConAgra Foods, the company that has won the Presidential Turkey contract, says it trains the lucky birds to be sociable, to interact with dignitaries, school children and the press.

That's how new racism in the corporate era works. A few carefully bred turkeys - the local elites of various countries, a community of wealthy immigrants, investment bankers, the occasional Colin Powell, or Condoleezza Rice, some singers, some writers (like myself) - are given absolution and a pass to Frying Pan Park.
The remaining millions lose their jobs, are evicted from their homes, have their water and electricity connections cut, and die of AIDS. Basically, they're for the pot. But the fortunate fowls in Frying Pan Park are doing fine. Some of them even work for the IMF and the World Trade Organisation - so who can accuse those organisations of being anti-turkey? Some serve as board members on the Turkey Choosing Committee - so who can say that turkeys are against Thanksgiving? They participate in it! Who can say the poor are anti-corporate globalisation? There's a stampede to get into Frying Pan Park. So what if most perish on the way?”

Congress gets a vacation, but what about the troops? http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/contributors/lame_vacations_1129.htm.

Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature (1979). 1.

“Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone talks about turkeys and Farm Sanctuary” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmemxjLriUI, ad for Farm Sanctuary (18 October 2011), reported in “Twitter founder Biz Stone likes turkeys, wishes people were more like them” https://venturebeat.com/2011/11/12/biz-stone-likes-turkeys/, in VentureBeat.com (12 November 2011).

Remarks by President Obama and President Hollande of France in Joint Press Conference https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/24/remarks-president-obama-and-president-hollande-france-joint-press (November 24, 2015)
2015

Source: Turkey's aid will never be forgotten: Albanian PM (November 28, 2019) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkeys-aid-will-never-be-forgotten-albanian-pm/1657618

Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 6
Context: Then he just stood there in front of me and I kept on staring at him. The only thing I could think of was turkey neck and turkey gizzards and I felt very depressed.

Tarkan Q & A, Tarkan Translations, April 10, 2003 http://tarkantr.blogspot.com/2005/05/q.html,

I Am Running for President in Turkey. From My Prison Cell. (2018)

"Mr. Dooley on Thanksgiving," http://books.google.com/books?id=bTtaAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Th+Turkey+bur-rd's+th+rale+cause+iv+Thanksgivin+He's+th+naytional+air+Abolish+th+Turkey+an+ye+desthroy+th+tie+that+binds+us+as+wan+people%22&pg=PT126#v=onepage syndicated column (25 November 1900)
Thanksgiving http://books.google.com/books?id=EO0pAAAAYAAJ&q=%22th+Turkey+bur-rd-s+th+rale+cause+iv+Thanksgivin+he-s+th+naytional+air+abolish+th+turkey+an+ye+desthroy+th+tie+that+binds+us+as+wan+people%22&pg=PA128#v=onepage, Mr. Dooley's Opinions (1901)