Memorial Day is a day set aside for
reflection. It is a day meant for us to honor our fallen dead.
The meaning of Memorial Day has changed a
great deal since it was founded. At its inception, it was meant to honor African
American soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War, both our soldiers who were born-free, as well as those
who were former slaves; men and women, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who
gave everything they had to keep the union whole.
Memorial Day was created to honor those who died
for an America which they only dreamed could exist. They died for these United
States, for a vision of it that the prayed for, but was not yet real; they got
something different, 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.
Those men and women died for us, for good or
ill, they died for us. They died for promises that went un-realized.
We have yet to repay them, 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.
Now, we honor our dead on this day; our
soldiers and sailors and airmen, our police and firefighters; we honor them.
We honor all of our citizens who spent their
lives, who gave their days to public service; we honor our doctors and nurses
and teachers, the good works of our ordinary citizens, of our friends and
neighbors, we honor everyone’s sacrifices; known and unknown, and those yet to
come.
This year we must even children, who stood in
the way of gunfire to protect their classmates and paid for it with their
lives.
We must honor them, and their sacrifice, they
died upholding our most cherished values, in recognition of the fact that we
are one people, that we are descended from many nations, and that we each come
into the world with the absolute right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, and that all other rights are subordinate to these.
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 borders and shores right now; not from Iran, not from North Korea,
not from Russia, not from anywhere.
The real threat we face is from ourselves,
from our ignorance and from our fear.
It is we, and we alone who can protect us from
ourselves.
Our own apathy, our prejudice and hatred,
these are the most dangerous forces aligned against us, that threaten our
freedom. They are more deadly than any other worldly power.
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
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, they are only seeking the same thing as my own forebears did when
they came here a little over a hundred years ago.
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, and to the notion that the right to keep and
bear arms does not include our responsibility to regulate them.
Honor them by participating in public
discourse. Do not lose heart, and do not give up.
Stand up, and be counted!
We must rebuild America, reform our
institutions, we must do this for the sake of all Americans and our future
generations. We must take responsibility for our own freedom.
We will have nothing to protect if we let our
freedom be stolen from us while we are busy watching TV, posting pictures on
social media of the last meal we ate, and arguing with one another about who is
the most liberal, most progressive, most concerned about the common good.
Honor the fallen, in this way.
Participate!
Jay P. Botten, Veteran, U.S.N., Hospital
Corps, 1990 – 1994
Given 1st 2015.05.25
Revised 2019.05.27
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