Tradition, Honor, Sacrifice...

From today's Times.

What the History of Memorial Day Teaches About Honoring the War Dead
By: Adam Cohen

Memorial Day got its start after the Civil War, when freed slaves and abolitionists gathered in Charleston, S.C., to honor Union soldiers who gave their lives to battle slavery. The holiday was so closely associated with the Union side, and with the fight for emancipation, that Southern states quickly established their own rival Confederate Memorial Day.

Over the next 50 years, though, Memorial Day changed. It became a tribute to the dead on both sides, and to the reunion of the North and the South after the war. This new holiday was more inclusive, and more useful to a forward-looking nation eager to put its differences behind it. But something important was lost: the recognition that the Civil War had been a moral battle to free black Americans from slavery.

In “Race and Reunion,” his masterful book about historical memory, David Blight, a professor at Yale, tells the wistful story of Memorial Day’s transformation — and what has been lost as a result. War commemorations, he makes clear, do not just pay tribute to the war dead. They also reflect a nation’s understanding of particular wars, and they are edited for political reasons. Memorial Day is a day not only of remembering, but also of selective forgetting — a point to keep in mind as the Iraq war moves uneasily into the history books.

Many of the early Memorial Day commemorations, Professor Blight notes, were like Charleston’s, paying tribute both to the fallen Union soldiers and to the emancipationist cause. At a ceremony in Maine in 1869, one fiery orator declared that “the black stain of slavery has been effaced from the bosom of this fair land by martyr blood.”

Less than a decade later in 1877 — when Reconstruction ended in the South — at New York City’s enormous Memorial Day celebration, there was much talk of union, and almost none of slavery or race. The New York Herald declared that “all the issues on which the war of rebellion was fought seem dead,” and noted approvingly that “American eyes have a characteristic tendency to look forward.”

There were dissenting voices. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist leader, continued to insist that Memorial Day should be about the battle between “slavery and freedom, barbarism and civilization.” But the drive to make the holiday a generic commemoration of the Civil War dead won out.

The new Memorial Day made it easier for Northern and Southern whites to come together, and it kept the focus where political and business leaders wanted it: on national progress. But it came at the expense of American blacks, whose status at the end of Reconstruction was precarious. If the Civil War was not a battle to determine whether a nation “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” could “long endure,” as Lincoln declared in the Gettysburg Address, but a mere regional dispute, there was no need to continue fighting for equal rights.

And increasingly the nation did not. When Woodrow Wilson spoke at Gettysburg on the 50th anniversary of the battle, in a Memorial Day-like ceremony, he avoided the subject of slavery, Professor Blight notes, and declared “the quarrel” between North and South “forgotten.” The ceremony was segregated, and a week later Wilson’s administration created separate white and black bathrooms in the Treasury Department. It would be another 50 years before the nation seriously took up the cause of racial equality again.

Since 1913, Memorial Day has changed even more. It has expanded — after World War I, it became a tribute to the dead of all the nation’s wars — while at the same time fading. Today, Memorial Day is little more than the start of summer, a time for barbecues and department store sales. Much would be gained, though, by going back to the holiday’s original meanings.

When Memorial Day began, the war dead were placed front and center. The holiday’s original name, Decoration Day, came from the day’s main activity: leaving flowers at cemeteries. Today, though, we are fighting a war in which great pains have been taken to hide the nearly 3,500 Americans who have died from sight. The Defense Department has banned the photographing of returning caskets, and the president refuses to attend soldiers’ funerals.

Memorial Day also began with the conviction that to properly honor the war dead, it is necessary to honestly contemplate the cause for which they fought. Today we are fighting a war sold on false pretenses, and the Bush administration stands by its false stories. Memorial Day’s history, and its devolution, demonstrates that the instinct to prettify war and create myths about it is hardly new.

But as the founders of the original Memorial Day understood, the only honorable way to remember those who have lost their lives is to commemorate them out in the open, and to insist on a true account.

rapid fire

and here goes another stream of consciousness post ala su-coll style...

finals done. comp crashed. went to multiple nj malls with M. new logic board needed.

weekend fun fun fun. friends visited [missed some of you!]. reading terminal. split better-than-Abner's philly cheese-steak with C. revisited old city, south street. greeted history again. hopped the subway to the bridge. saw iron man. robert downey jr. is back. C dislikes gwyneth p. wandered center city. ate at marathon grill. reminisced about life, memories, food, people. served [horrendous] cookies that friends [appreciatively] ate. slept at 3. got up at crack of dawn thanks to excellent view. went back to sleep. left for art museum. failed attempt at picture with rocky statue. finagled our way through yogis on museum steps. saw great art. LOTS of paul cezanne. favorite painting by charlemont. nothing beats the MET. ate brunch at the bishop's collar waited for phlash. obnoxious driver. rain rain rain. reading terminal again. tearful [kidding!] send-off in chinatown. waited for phlash times 2. obnoxious driver times infinity. ceaseless rain. slept. cleaned.

moot court competitions yesterday and today. impressive oralists. wore judge's robes. very cool. felt like a renaissance woman. judging gives me a headache. but today more fun. finally done with DL for at least three months. saw sublet today. thank GOD for craigslist. going home tomorrow. wish i could go to cape cod and martha's vineyard this weekend with las amigas. start work next week. exhausted. nervous. excited.

need to go shopping.

Screwing Courage to the Sticking Place

A Bible-passage I read last night so appropriately responded to my present mind-state. I am compelled to share it.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

~Luke 17:5-10.

Our world places so much emphasis on self-confidence, self-esteem, self-motivation, self-everything. While these are important values, sometimes believing in yourself just doesn't cut it. But believing in God will ALWAYS cut it. I am a self-proclaimed worry wart, and though I may not always show it on the outside, inside I am all goo and nerves when faced with even the silliest challenge. This whole concept of putting all my burdens, struggles, doubts and fears onto a higher Power is certainly not new to me. But being tested in a way that's somewhat indescribable gives faith a whole new meaning.

Why is it so much easier to believe our teachers, classmates, parents, friends and even non-well-wishers to do things for us when asked? Why am I sometimes afraid that God will not answer my prayer? Or more tellingly, answer it the way I selfishly want it answered?

My sister passed on a little anecdote to me a while ago that I thought was enlightening. God's answer to our prayer takes three forms: yes, no, or wait. Practicing faith is all about waiting, its all about fulfilling our duties the best we can, without expecting anything in return. Its about recognizing that we are eternally blessed, because He is unconditionally taking care of the rest.

!!!

I think I'm having an internal conversation with my sporadic posting on this blog.

Current feeling: Mental fatigue
Current peeve: Know-it-alls; especially ones that are sitting only a few feet away, speaking very loudly and reveling in the ability to intimidate people with their knowledge.

Nikon Coolpix L11

I bought a refurbished camera for $60. This was a test shot, possibly illustrating the effects of studying for finals, namely:

1. a phony smile and
2. an intense need to squeeze the nearest stuffed animal

Normally I would post this on the flog, but alas, it doesn't accept pics larger than 2MB!

Maya Arulpragasam

There are few South Asian [diasporic] international musicians out there. M.I.A. is one of them. Having discovered her in college, the only thing that really attracts me to her music is the occasional awesome layering of South-Indian beats into her music. This is one example, and a pretty good one. Usually her songs leave me disturbed and somewhat confused (youtube "paper planes" and you'll see what I mean) but the rhythm is undoubtedly addictive.

Again, lyrically, you may leave this song scratching your head. But that's ok! She has that effect on people...

PRODUCTS LIABILITY

I'm in the process of studying for this exam which will fall on my sister's birthday. I hope that gives me luck.

Why do I keep daydreaming when I know how critical these stupid finals are? I need the fire in my belly from the beginning of this year. I started 2L like a tiger and I'm leaving like an asthmatic sloth. It doesn't help that home is the biggest distraction in the world, for good and bad reasons. But tomorrow its back to Philly and God willing, back to a studying-state-of-mind.

Alor Cafe and More

The girls and I checked out a new place, thanks to Su's savvy google hunt. It was quite lovely! It seems the big menu item there are the crepes. The six of us dished out on savory crepes (salmon, chicken and I don't remember what Su and May's crepe was) and dessert crepes (The Trio, Banana Rum and Apple Streudel). They were all delicious, but we all came to the consensus that the savory crepes were just a tad better. The decor channeled a feng shui theme which created a very relaxing atmosphere to eat/chat in. I especially liked the plexi-glass tables that encased all kinds of coffee beans, nuts and other organic looking objects. Whenever I see crepes, I'll think of this place and that crepe-master by my school. Yum! Colleenus also returned from La Espanola and bought us some delectable chocolates and beautiful postcards. Her adventures made me quite jealous. I am so ready to bounce out of the U.S. and travel the world!

After the mini-reunion, I had to stop by the mall with la hermana to get my computer fixed. I spilled water on it a few days ago and fearing that it would malfunction, decided to get the apple geniuses to diagnose any problems before a potential crash on exam day. They said they fixed the disk errors and replaced my battery so I'm crossing my fingers that nothing will go amiss. Thank God for AppleCare!

I can't believe finals are here. I welcome them, only to be done with 2L. But I am so mentally unprepared for these next two tests. My mind is fixated on summertime. 10 more days!