September 11, 2033: my hope for the millions of children born after 9-11-2001 [View all]

THIS HAS BEEN POSTED IN THE BARACK OBAMA GROUP (BOG). IF YOU FIND IT NECESSARY TO DING THE CURRENT PRESIDENT ON THIS ISSUE, PLEASE START YOUR OWN THREAD IN GENERAL DISCUSSION. OTHERWISE, I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT. THANK YOU.

December 7, 1941 aircraft sent from the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, thus catapulting the US into WW II. President Roosevelt spoke to the nation in a radio address, calling it "a day that will live in infamy." And so it was.

Many things happened at home in the US in response to events: for one, enemy Japanese were routinely called Japs in conversation, in newspapers, radio, you name it. Japs were the enemy. Finally Japanese-Americans were rounded up into relocation camps away from the coast. They were Japs, too. And the US would never, ever forget December 7.

Then Japan lost the war, their Empire was dismantled, and the US occupiers helped them rebuild and write a modern constitution. "Jap" became an unacceptable rude word after awhile.

I was born a few years after the war ended, so I remember none of this personally. What I do remember is the cognitive dissonance from about 6th grade on: my family lived among Asian-Americans and the US considered Japan an ally, yet every single year the newspapers carried commemorative articles on December 7, the day that was going to live in infamy. Why couldn't the grownups let that go?

Now I know that it was much too soon for the grownups to let go of one of the formative experiences of their lifetimes. Now I understand them better. None of us who were alive on November 22, 1963 can ever forget. None of us who were alive on 9-11-2001 can ever forget. We just can't.

There are substantial differences, of course. For one thing, the US won WW II and it actually came to an end. We haven't "won" a damn thing in either Afghanistan or Iraq and the best President Obama can do for us in the end is just get out, thanks to Bush/Cheney and the NeoCons.

But the children, like my grandson, who is going to be 9 in November. What does this mean, what can this mean -- for him, for them?

So this is my prayer for all the children after this year: that someday you, too, will feel that cognitive dissonance I once felt, because the war will be over. You'll be able to count Muslim-Americans among your schoolmates and neighbors, and you won't understand why the grownups continue to make a fuss over commemorating 9-11-2001 on tv every year. Because in your life it will be over....

(I don't think I expressed this as well as I hoped to, but I've done my best for late-night. All the best for peace, now and ever.)