The spirit of Never Forget apparently has a selective memory

[bodlon]

I didn't blog about 9/11 on Sunday.

I had plenty of good reasons, starting with the fact that I wasn't in NYC or at the Pentagon or anywhere near any of the flights that were downed by terrorists. My own story amounts to hearing about the first plane whilst driving my then-partner to work, returning home and turning the television on in time to see the second plane hit, and then spending the rest of the day listening to the radio at my own job because the Internet was being crushed under the weight of an impossible amount of traffic.

My own opinions are more complex, and sometimes I talk about them. Mostly, though, I think there are better times to discuss politics than the 11th of September nowadays. I don't know if I entirely agree with Paul Krugman that the day is poisoned -- a day is a day, and if every day a bad thing happened we had to strip the goodness off of it for good, we'd have no good days left -- but enough people are in intense enough places with 9/11 that I tread carefully and trusted others of my same mindset to speak.

Many did, so that worked out pretty well.

Here's something, though, that didn't: two men and one woman were removed from a plane and detained in Detroit on Sunday after someone reported them for "suspicious activity." In this case, suspicious activity appears to have involved 1) being brown-skinned, 2) using a toilet, 3) being assigned, presumably at random, to sit near one another on an airplane.

The woman, an American-born half-Jewish, half-Arab houswife who lives in Ohio, has posted her full account of on her blog.

When I was a kid, teachers would tell us that it was wrong to judge somebody by their appearance. Someone's skin might be different, or they might be tall or short, slim or large, have nice clothes or shop at the second-hand store, etc. but that its what's inside that counts. That it's okay for people to believe different things, speak other languages, or be from other places. I know people in education saying this same thing now. I say it.

I find myself wondering more and more, though, what to tell a child who -- quite reasonably, I think -- looks back up at me and says that important people on the television think I'm wrong about that. As an adult, I'm often angry to see the very people who taught me these values doing -- and endorsing -- the exact opposite in everything from politics to the simple matter of where to live and who to associate with.

Like, really? Thanks guys. Your constant assurances that people would be better after I got out of school aren't exactly inspiring when you prove yourselves to be equally cruel and stupid.

It makes me wonder what we're supposed to be remembering when people say Never Forget. Am I supposed to still be vengeful? What am I supposed to do?

I think we'd be wiser to try and remember what actually happened and put it in perspective instead of using the actions of a fringe group of religious extremists -- fully one fifth of the world's population is Muslim; assuming that Muslims are terrorists is a profound failure of basic statistics if nothing else -- to justify endless war, racial profiling, and the abuse of American citizens at the hands of our own government.

If we should be refusing to forget anything, it should be who we are. America is supposed to be so much bigger than this. We're supposed to be a beacon of hope, and of Liberty, where all persons are created equal, and equally entitled to both the rewards and responsibilities that come of being a citizen in what should be the most vibrant, free, and diverse country on the planet.

What went down in Detroit on Sunday isn't this. The other 50 incidents that occurred that day aren't this. Our duty now should be not to shy away or disavow, but to strive to understand what's gone wrong and then make it right. Part of that means that every American, particularly the ones who are a little sketchy on the whole idea, needs to take a goddamn second to affirm that anyone -- natural born or naturalized -- who is a citizen is just as much of an American as we are and entitled to the same rights, protections, and dignity. While we're at it, how about we also take a second to reaffirm that visitors are welcome, and those who are working to become citizens or permanent residents are beloved guests and family? Because that's what they are, and that's part of what has always made us great.

And that's really all I have to say, because if I keep going at this rate I'm likely to be set upon a brass band while eagles burst out of my chest. The last time that happened we didn't manage to get it under control until after the parade. Total nightmare.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com