How Much Time Has REALLY Passed?

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 happened almost twelve years ago. Thousands of people lost everything: their health, property or in some cases, their lives. The nation was forced to start again, pick up the pieces and move on.

For Americans on the East Coast, conservative estimates of economic losses were close to 2 billion dollars, according to the recent New York Times article, 9/11 Health Fund Pays Out Its First 15 Awards. The article details how federal plans of health care and financial compensation are finally being put into place and the first fifteen financial compensation awards for first responders were issued. This program for 'victims' is tax-free and ranges from $10,000 to $1.5 million per individual case. I think this compensation fund is a good idea, however I find it astonishing that it took so long to materialize, considering how prominent it has been in the national media and its role in the United States' foreign policy in the past decade. According to Sheila Birnbaum, the special master of the fund, one reason for the "glacial pace" of the progress was the gradual speed of which all of the paperwork has been filled out by the victims. She also cited the fact that in late 2010, Congress approved the $2.8 billion compensation fund, along with a $1.5 billion fund for health monitoring and treatment. Do you think she is placing blame on others rather the program itself? The program also fails to cover costs for serious illnesses such as cancer because of "a lack of evidence tying Sept. 11 to cancer". Is it a lack of evidence or just a lack of trying?

I think it is startling that the fund does not cover cancer, which is one of the most expensive ailments and probably one of the most likely things people would seek compensation for. In the same article, Ms. Birnbaum said, “The type of illness is not important. What is important is your economic loss.” Her use of the words, 'not important' seem to me like an apathetic approach to a potentially depressing issue. To what extent do you think the fund was set up as a program in name only? Should the Victim Compensation Fund evaluate at each case individually based on the severity of the ailment or solely the 'economic loss'? Please leave your comments below.

American Mythology and the Truth: A Contradiction

The Typical Portrait of Dr. King

In honor of the past holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I was reading an interesting blog post on An American Studies, that caused me to rethink and reexamine what I really thought and knew about the man and the myth behind the memorial day. Why is Dr. King so remembered as one of the most prominent civil rights leaders in American history? Why do they take off school? Why is he immortalized on an annual day of service? The post details a lesser-known speech of King's entitled, Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam, on the grounds of world peace.

Prior to this speech, I was unaware that Dr. King publicly expressed major viewpoints concerning issues besides civil rights. Concerning this issue, I think it really touches on the fine line between storytelling and American mythology: how WE as Americans want our story to be told, remembered and viewed. I think in the past, American mythology views Dr. King as solely a freedom fighter of the 1960's on a mission for change and equal rights for African Americans.

The Real Story of Dr. King,
Not as Perfect as Described

Along the same lines, I think the reason that Dr. King chose to give a speech about the Vietnam War is that there is a direct correlation between the conflict over seas and the civil rights issues on America's home front. In this particular speech, Dr. King said 'when silence becomes betrayal' is definitely applicable to both issues. Silence, the act of not speaking up, held back the Civil Rights Movement in America and even kept unjust, classified information such as the Myilai Massacre of Vietnam under wraps for so long. I think he also used betrayal to say that if one doesn't voice their honest opinions about an issue, than they are directly hurting others and themselves. Dr. King was clearly a more complex man than American mythology characterizes him as.

The typical American mythological portrait of Dr. King presents him as a determined, almost divine figure that could do no wrong; this is the story we want to believe. In the picture seen to the above left, Dr. King is waving to an adoring crowd of thousands after one of his powerful speeches. In his non-violent protests, Dr. King actually achieved celebrity status for spending a significant amount of time in jail (arrested five times) after participating in events such as a 1960 Atlanta lunch counter sit-in and 1965 Selma, AL  voting rights demonstration. To what extent do you think this a fair way to become a famous face on the national media?

Why do you think MLK is remembered as only a civil rights activist? What element of American ideals plays on this level of thought?

Generation to Generation: African Americans- The Perpetual Search for Accepted Identity or Servile Socioeconomic Standard?: Final Exam

President Obama in Rosa Parks' iconic Montgomery, AL bus
on the 57th Anniversary of the event via the White House Twitter
December 2nd, 2012

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and hopefully, we shall overcome," said the late, great civil rights activist, Rosa Parks (emphasis added). On December 1st, 1955, Parks took a stand against prejudice versus African Americans by sitting in a seat on a public transit bus that was originally designated for whites only. Parks, like many before her, hoped that by her actions, the future could be fairer for people of her race and there would be more opportunities accessible. The photo of President Obama sitting on the Rosa Parks bus on the 57th anniversary is a significant artifact in American History because it demonstrates that despite their previous bondage, the perpetual search of African Americans for an equal voices continues to this day in hopes of making the future more just.

Sojourner Truth

In the image above, President Obama, the first black President, is sitting on the iconic bus, which was one of the first symbols/ attempts of African Americans at equal rights. He is posed in the same position as Parks was, hands clasped together on lap, looking out the window to the viewer's right side. I interpret the direction of his face, with a determined expression, as thinking about looking forward to the future, where hopefully, based on Parks' own words, it will be fairer. The photographer took the image of Obama sitting alone on the bus to make sure he was the main subject and focal point. Also, I think the image displays how while the US has gone very far, there is still room to grow in the future.

Speaking of women in the plight of African American freedom, one of the first was Sojourner Truth. Truth, a slave turned abolitionist, had herself professionally photographed in what was called a 'carte-de-visite' in the 1860's. In the daguerreotype print, Truth is shown dressed well and as a 'free woman in control of her own image'. On some of Truth 'carte-de-visites' her quote, "I sell the shadow to support the substance," is printed. I interpreted the shadow as being slavery and the substance as the abolition of slavery. She is pictured with her arms flexed at her sides and defiant for equal rights. In comparison to the image of Obama, while she is not looking to the right, like Obama was, Truth is looking straight at the camera, which was a big step for the time, considering how blacks were usually photographed looking up, down or away, as if unimportant and unfocused. In this image, Truth is pointing to a portrait of her grandson, who served in the Union army. I think that Truth wants to say that black soldiers are a good first step, but what does the future of possibilities hold?

The image of Obama above presents him in a public transit bus. Transportation is often used as a metaphor for moving forward, getting somewhere and accomplishing a goal. The 20th century play, Jitney, by August Wilson, takes place in a black jitney cab station. The boss, Becker talks to his son, Booster, about the plight of wanting the next generation to be more successful than the previous, "I tried to fix it so you didn't have to follow up behind me, so you could go on and go further. So you have a better life. I did without so you could have," (44). The previous generation sometimes has to make sacrifices and do 'without' so that the next could help the cause, similar to how Rosa Parks had to be arrested in order for people like Obama to be able to become President.  

Parents want what is best for their children. The famous ballet choreographer, Bill T. Jones, described in a podcast about how his father, "completely out of work and broken" had a very insignificant job in a factory far away and "was a poor black man with no car, and no picked him up." In the analogy of transportation as a means of moving forward, no one helped Jones' father reach his metaphorical goal of providing for his family, and giving his children hope. This has happened in the past many times for African Americans. The rich people at the times of Jones' childhood (about the 1960's) were predominantly white, and probably owned more cars than black people did. Sometimes African Americans have to fight the system alone, because at the end of the day, Jones' father did make it to work, on foot, which made the accomplishment all the more meaningful.

President Obama, in his book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Racism and Inheritance, said that "my identity might begin with the fact of my race, but it didn't, couldn't end there." African Americans are Americans after all, and deserve to be given the same rights as anyone else in the United States. While there is still more work to be done, the efforts of figures like Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, August Wilson, Bill T. Jones, and President Obama have proudly shown what it means to not only be American, but to inspire others races as well in the next generation and beyond.

Faces of the Fallen

A soldier's funeral via
the Washington Post

As another year comes to a close, the United States Armed Forces issues its yearly report of casualty reports and statistics. Along with a letter from the President, Barack Obama, and a coffin with an American flag draped over it, the family of loved ones and the country gets little other information. I wonder if the government and its defense branch wants to paint the loss of armed forces in a certain way that makes it favorable to them.

In a recent Washington Post article entitled, Faces of the Fallen, there was a montage of images of all of those who lost their lives this year in combat. Below the images is a chart and table depicting many forms of data, such as location, age, home state and cause of death and casualty trends throughout the ongoing War on Terror. While I think having this information open to public is a good thing, some of the information is kind of vague, which leads me to believe that either the information is classified or deemed too gruesome for the public to know. For example, in the cause of death category, the sections are hostile death, IED, non-combat, helicopter accident, vehicle accident, unknown, other-unknown and airplane crash. I don't know about you, but these categories seem pretty elusive to me. Just what is the difference between 'unknown' and 'other-unknown'? I find it hard to believe that all 305 servicepeople (2012) and all 6630 throughout the conflict deaths can be defined in eight categories (Washington Post).

Below is an example of one of the entries. This issue is very delicate, and if I were a family member of a loved one who 'died while supporting combat operations' I would like to know a little bit more about his/her final days.

Cpl. Richard A. Rivera Jr.

• Age: 20
• Sex: M
• Hometown: Ventura, Calif.
• Branch: Marines
• Unit: 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force

Incident

• Aug 10th, 2012: Died while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Location: Helmand, Afghanistan

Do you think the military provides enough information in its casualty reports? How could they improve the report for the next year? To what extent do you think the defense department should release classified information?

To find out more about what its like to be a soldier in America, now and throughout American history, you can read two of my past blog posts, linked below.  

• The Court Theatre's Jitney: The Role of Veterans in Society

• 9/11/12- How Americans View Today Differently