29 Commemorative Flags now adorn downtown AmherstUsually, Amherst forgets a sanctioned occasion or two for unfurling the 29 commemorative flags to observe the "official" holidays our--at the time overly PC--Select Board approved on the night of September 10, 2001, an ever-so-routine meeting in the People's Republic.
But this weekend we have the opposite case, where they put them up for an occasion not on the list: Columbus Day. Not that I'm complaining. Anything we can do to adorn the downtown is fine by me--and nothing is dressier than the American flag basked in brilliant sunlight.
Now if I were the critical type I'd point out that the town goes out of its way to commemorate someone accused of starting the genocide and enslavement of Native Americans, but this coming 9/11 will refuse to fly these very same flags to remember 3,000 Americans slaughtered on a stunningly gorgeous Tuesday morning, simply because they were Americans.
And if I were the really critical type, I would now roll my eyes and murmur, "Only in Amherst."
But this weekend we have the opposite case, where they put them up for an occasion not on the list: Columbus Day. Not that I'm complaining. Anything we can do to adorn the downtown is fine by me--and nothing is dressier than the American flag basked in brilliant sunlight.
Now if I were the critical type I'd point out that the town goes out of its way to commemorate someone accused of starting the genocide and enslavement of Native Americans, but this coming 9/11 will refuse to fly these very same flags to remember 3,000 Americans slaughtered on a stunningly gorgeous Tuesday morning, simply because they were Americans.
And if I were the really critical type, I would now roll my eyes and murmur, "Only in Amherst."
Never give up
Last I knew, the flag represented the whole country. That's it. Everybody.
ReplyDeleteIf someone chooses to fly it (or not) to commemorate someone or some bodies, it's a choice -- but not a mandate.
If somebody thinks it's a symbol of good, so be it. If somebody thinks it's a symbol of terror, that's their opinion.
But none of that changes the fact that the US flag is a symbol of ALL of the USA. Period.
And that's MY opinion. (I think it's a great decoration too.)
Glad to see you recognizing the absurdity of a genocidal British Lord being the person our American town is named after.
ReplyDeleteActually, I was being sarcastic.
ReplyDelete(Which requires, I guess, its own special font.)
Thanks, for an instant I thought you had a rare moment of profundity.
ReplyDeleteLord Amherst saved us all from being French.
ReplyDeleteHey, why single out Lord Jeffrey Amherst and Christopher Columbus?
ReplyDeleteYour tax dollars pay for our Predator Drones.
We're all implicated.