Memorial Day is a day set aside for reflection,
a day meant for us to honor our fallen dead.
The meaning of this day has changed a great
deal since it was founded. At its inception, Memorial Day was set aside to
honor the African-American soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War, both soldiers
who were born-free, as well as those who had been enslaved; men and women,
mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who gave everything they had to keep
the United States of America whole, and to make it free.
Memorial Day was established to honor those
who died for an America which they only dreamed could exist; they died for
these United States, our brave soldiers died for a vision of America they could
only prayed for, and America that was not yet real. They got something
different than they hoped for, they got this reality, an America that is still
in a state of becoming, one that is more or less just, depending on where you
are born, what color your skin is, what class you belong to…or who is in charge
of enforcing the law.
Those men and women died for us, for good or
ill, they died for us; they died for promises that went un-realized, they died
for a dream deferred, as our poet Langston Hughes wrote of the in his poem Harlem[i]:
What happens to a
dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the
sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like
rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar
over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
We have yet to repay those good people, we
have yet to fulfill their hopes for the America they dreamt of; America,
daughter of liberty, America the true and good, America the arbiter of justice,
an America that could be if we only pursued the dream of her and exercise the
will to make it so.
Now…we honor our dead on this day; our
soldiers and sailors and airmen, our police and firefighters; we honor them.
We are too frequently called upon to honor
children, children who stand in the way of gunfire to protect their classmates,
who paid for their compassion and bravery with their lives…we honor them and
their sacrifice, all of them who died upholding our most cherished values, we
honor them in recognition of the fact that we are one people descended from
many nationalities and ethnicities, and that we each come into the world with
the absolute right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; all other
rights are subordinate to these.
This year we are called upon to honor all citizens
who have spent their lives in public service; we honor our teachers and the
good works of our ordinary citizens, of our friends and neighbors, we honor the
sacrifice of everyone, known and unknown and those yet to come.
On this day of all days, do not make the
mistake of thinking that it is our service women and men who keep us free; it
has been at least sixty years since America faced an “existential” threat from
a foreign power…we are not kept free through armed conflict.
We do not face such an existential threat from
beyond our shores and borders right now; not from Iran, not from North Korea,
not from Russia, not from China or anywhere. The real threat we face is from
ourselves, we face an existential threat brought about by ignorance,
short-sightedness and greed…we stand in our own way; we, and we alone can
protect us from ourselves. Our apathy and selfishness, our prejudice and hatred,
our gluttony and cowardice, these are the most dangerous forces aligned against
us, these are the forces that threaten our freedom. They are more deadly than
any worldly power, these are the forces which have gone unchecked by our
elected representatives, even encouraged by our president and his criminal
regime.
It is shameful and terrifying.
To honor our fallen dead, you must do your
part to keep us free. You must participate in our democracy: vote, stay
informed, organize, build alliances and collaborate.
Our collective failure as citizens of the
Unites States has allowed a criminal, autocratic, demagogue to hold power in
the White House, allowed the Supreme Court to state that corporations are to be
treated as people, and money regarded as free speech, while those same justices
have told ordinary American’s that their right to free speech does not include
the right to be heard, and that our right to vote does not include the
guarantee that our votes will be counted.
This rank cynicism is more dangerous to our lives
and freedom than any rag-tag group of militants half way around the world, more
dangerous than immigrants looking for a better life on our side of the border
we share, more dangerous than people who are only seeking the same thing as my own
forebears did when they came here a little over a hundred years ago….a better
life, a chance to lift themselves out of poverty.
Honor our fallen dead. Not with cards and
flowers and barbeques (but do those things because they are good), honor them
by standing up to racism and bigotry, to religious zealotry and corporate
greed, to scientific ignorance and xenophobia, to corruption in our public
officials in our highest offices.
Honor them by participating in public
discourse. Do not lose heart, and do not give up. Stand up and be counted!
We can rebuild America and reform our
institutions, and we must for the sake of all Americans and all future
generations humans who may be subject to our power...we must take
responsibility for our lives and freedom or we will have nothing to protect.
Honor the fallen, in this way…participate!
Jay P. Botten, Veteran, U.S.N., Hospital
Corps, 1990 – 1994
[i] Langston
Hughes, "Harlem" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes.
Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober
Associates, Inc.
