August 6th. looms large in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A Sunday this year. A small protest group will gather in town and offer prayers, incantations and they will ring bells at 8:16 am.
Thousands of groups worldwide will meet on the anniversary of Hiroshima. Led by the Japanese, the international community will memorialize the dead and, by extension, condemn the United States for its actions. Oak Ridgers accept the 50 years of steady scorn with silence. To object has been futile. They have felt the sharp sting of the back hand of the world, and their own country, for decades. Ostracized from history is the norm for Oak Ridgers.
It wasn’t always so. From the end of the war until the early 60’s, the United States offered remorseful gratitude about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Remorse for the massive loss of Japanese life, but also gratitude for quickly ending the deadliest conflict ever seen by mankind.
In the 1960’s it all changed. A social revolution shattered our institutions and all noble ideas about our history were throw to the curb. The bombings became unjustified and unnecessary. World War II, as a context, disappeared. Being at war with Japan was ignored. The bombings were evil, and therefore, the United States was evil too. The interpretation of events leading up to the bombings went from playing chess to playing tic-tac-toe. The moral matrix of tic-tac-toe is far easier for those who think the bombings were wrong.
Today the country is embroiled in the same moral reckoning about a different event: The Civil War. Confederate flags and memorials have come down. Southern soldiers are now viewed as traitors by those determined to remove the stain of slavery from the national narrative.
How far does the country go forward with the moral cleansing of slavery? George Washington was a slave owner. Does his monument come down in D.C? Do we change the name of the nation’s capital? Jefferson owned slaves too and had six children by one slave. Does his memorial in Washington come down too? Is the University of Virginia leveled in atonement for our national sins? Is the left half of Mt. Rushmore destroyed with mortars , much like when the Taliban destroyed historic religious shrines in Afghanistan?
With moral cleansing, do we destroy the symbols of western expansion, which required the genocide of 12-17 million indigenous people? Do we tear down the St. Louis Arch? Does the Alamo, a symbol of Hispanic diaspora, come down too? Moral purity is a zero sum game. The implications for our national narrative are massive.
National cemeteries are the country’s most sacred ground. Over 400 Confederate soldiers are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Must those traitor’s corpses be exhumed and burned, in a pyre of national purging?
My concerns appear extreme to some, but they are the logical extension of taking down Confederate Memorials. Many times in history, the victors of civil wars, in peace time, destroy their former opponents. Attempts at reconciliation get twisted into retribution and revenge.
Southerners and Manhattan Project workers are now members of The Museum of National Shame. Oak Ridgers have 50 years of membership behind them. The Confederates are newly installed and they are confusedand hurt by the nation’s rejection. Oak Ridgers can offer them support.
The Museum of National Shame, as part of their outreach program, will offer 12 step meetings around the nation for southerners needing a shoulder to cry on or a sympathetic group to rant at. The group can be called “From heroes to demons: Victims navigating the emotional rapids of political correctness.”
The 12 step meetings nationwide will be packed. “Hello. My name is Richard. I live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and I know and respect southerners.”
The demons will enthusiastically welcome me, “Hello Richard.”