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Editorial in Rome News-Tribune, Thursday August 5, 2004. Moderators, this may be more appropriate in the Sinks, or CW History. But as it concerns vandalism of historic sites I thought I’d try it here first. Feel free to move it if necessary.
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Why values are history - Rome News-Tribune, 8/5/04
08/05/04Email this story to a friend
SOMETHING’S WRONG, right here in history city. It runs deeper than just the two recent incidents that are evidence of the problem — the vandalism at Myrtle Hill Cemetery and the theft of the 8th Regiment Band’s trailer full of Civil War instruments and uniforms. Both of these saddening events occurred in the heart of Rome, a city noted for preserving and protecting its considerable historical heritage. A city where the look and even feel of a century ago and longer is still a part of daily surroundings.
While the mess at the cemetery has been largely repaired, and the nationally known brass band will play on whether or not its museum-caliber treasures are recovered, there’s a more disturbing element.
General mischief, vandalism and petty crimes are not unique to modern times. They’ve always been with us. Disrespect is something else again. A lack of a certain reverence for the past — of the things that went into making up what we term “America” — is a troubling element and deserves deeper contemplation.
THE INSULTS to what Myrtle Hill and the 8th Regiment Band stand for are the local equivalent of somebody spray-painting graffiti on the Statue of Liberty or Washington Monument. They should generate the same sense of shock and outrage. It is the sort of thing that is — or at least, used to be — unthinkable. What’s most troubling is that, in all likelihood, both incidents resulted from a combination of ignorance and stupidity on the part of the perpetrators. They probably know little or nothing of Rome’s history, or of this nation’s for that matter. The monuments at the family plot of a former first lady of this land were not toppled as some sort of special target, as though by terrorist sympathizers. The culprits doubtless didn’t have a clue that Ellen Axson Wilson was there, much less who she was ... or any of the other notables whose final resting places were disturbed. The 8th Regiment Band’s trailer was rather loudly marked; it couldn’t be mistaken for a hip-hop group’s van full of amps and electronic gear. There was nothing in it that any pawnshop would ever accept, or that one could sell on eBay, for that matter.
HERE AGAIN, the culprits probably were clueless; maybe never even heard of the Civil War. They certainly didn’t know that these musicians do their re-enactments as a labor of love, perform both in Confederate and Union uniforms and are as identifiable, in history circles, as are the navels of anybody on the Top 10 charts. For this one can only blame, first, parents and, second, our public education systems where history has increasingly been relegated to the back of the room and the curriculum. One can’t respect what one doesn’t know. One can’t hold to values one has never been shown. One can appreciate, in this age of increased technology and demand for greater job skills, why more and more math and other subjects are being emphasized. But, alas, to make the necessary time in a limited school day this has also meant less and less is being taught about history, civics, geography and just plain stuff about how the world works and how it got that way. Those in the religious community who lament the loss of “values” in public curriculums overlook the obvious. That never really came from Bible readings but rather from lessons in American history where the forefathers were shown practicing what they preached.
WHAT HAS happened at Myrtle Hill and to the 8th Regiment Band — and even before that the halting of lining Veterans Memorial Highway with flags on Memorial Day because of the vandalism — are the direct result of a failure to adequately pass along American traditions, values and, most all, the history from which these stem. Finding and punishing the perpetrators of such outrages will not end them. They simply know not what they do. The most fundamental and essential part of an American’s education has been, and always must be, American history. Without it, tombstones are only chunks of stone and the music that kept cadence for our ancestors as they marched into battle is just a bunch of noise.
__________________________________________________ _______________
Why values are history - Rome News-Tribune, 8/5/04
08/05/04Email this story to a friend
SOMETHING’S WRONG, right here in history city. It runs deeper than just the two recent incidents that are evidence of the problem — the vandalism at Myrtle Hill Cemetery and the theft of the 8th Regiment Band’s trailer full of Civil War instruments and uniforms. Both of these saddening events occurred in the heart of Rome, a city noted for preserving and protecting its considerable historical heritage. A city where the look and even feel of a century ago and longer is still a part of daily surroundings.
While the mess at the cemetery has been largely repaired, and the nationally known brass band will play on whether or not its museum-caliber treasures are recovered, there’s a more disturbing element.
General mischief, vandalism and petty crimes are not unique to modern times. They’ve always been with us. Disrespect is something else again. A lack of a certain reverence for the past — of the things that went into making up what we term “America” — is a troubling element and deserves deeper contemplation.
THE INSULTS to what Myrtle Hill and the 8th Regiment Band stand for are the local equivalent of somebody spray-painting graffiti on the Statue of Liberty or Washington Monument. They should generate the same sense of shock and outrage. It is the sort of thing that is — or at least, used to be — unthinkable. What’s most troubling is that, in all likelihood, both incidents resulted from a combination of ignorance and stupidity on the part of the perpetrators. They probably know little or nothing of Rome’s history, or of this nation’s for that matter. The monuments at the family plot of a former first lady of this land were not toppled as some sort of special target, as though by terrorist sympathizers. The culprits doubtless didn’t have a clue that Ellen Axson Wilson was there, much less who she was ... or any of the other notables whose final resting places were disturbed. The 8th Regiment Band’s trailer was rather loudly marked; it couldn’t be mistaken for a hip-hop group’s van full of amps and electronic gear. There was nothing in it that any pawnshop would ever accept, or that one could sell on eBay, for that matter.
HERE AGAIN, the culprits probably were clueless; maybe never even heard of the Civil War. They certainly didn’t know that these musicians do their re-enactments as a labor of love, perform both in Confederate and Union uniforms and are as identifiable, in history circles, as are the navels of anybody on the Top 10 charts. For this one can only blame, first, parents and, second, our public education systems where history has increasingly been relegated to the back of the room and the curriculum. One can’t respect what one doesn’t know. One can’t hold to values one has never been shown. One can appreciate, in this age of increased technology and demand for greater job skills, why more and more math and other subjects are being emphasized. But, alas, to make the necessary time in a limited school day this has also meant less and less is being taught about history, civics, geography and just plain stuff about how the world works and how it got that way. Those in the religious community who lament the loss of “values” in public curriculums overlook the obvious. That never really came from Bible readings but rather from lessons in American history where the forefathers were shown practicing what they preached.
WHAT HAS happened at Myrtle Hill and to the 8th Regiment Band — and even before that the halting of lining Veterans Memorial Highway with flags on Memorial Day because of the vandalism — are the direct result of a failure to adequately pass along American traditions, values and, most all, the history from which these stem. Finding and punishing the perpetrators of such outrages will not end them. They simply know not what they do. The most fundamental and essential part of an American’s education has been, and always must be, American history. Without it, tombstones are only chunks of stone and the music that kept cadence for our ancestors as they marched into battle is just a bunch of noise.