In the Sacramento Bee yesterday, a letter to the editor states that President Obama must not bow when he visits Hiroshima this month, that a bow means an apology and U.S. must never apologize.
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Frances Kakugawa
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They not only want to muzzle a conversation, the want to silence the wrong conversation. We’re way past worrying about “apologies”. We need to worry about what the world will look like after a nuclear war.
What is ‘THE CONVERSATION’?
Someone will come along and see your sign, “Begin the Conversation”
and they will ask, “What Conversation?”
You might answer,
“It’s not the conversation about who was to blame for dropping the atomic bomb,”
“It’s not the conversation about whether that ‘saved lives and ended the war,’
“It’s not the conversation about what THEY did and how horrible they were,”
“It’s not the conversation about ‘they were trying to build a bomb, too.”
“It’s not a conversation about who should apologize to whom.”
“Then what conversation are you talking about?” they ask.
“It’s the conversation about what it looks like to be on the receiving end of a nuclear weapon,”
“It’s about the conversation on what Hiroshima and Nagasaki really mean to us in the 21st century,”
“It’s the conversation about what the world looks like when nuclear war happens,”
“It’s about what will happen by accident, or blunder, or fear, or terrorism, or sheer bad luck,”
“it’s about the certainty that the unimaginable will become the very real if something isn’t done to prevent that from happening,”
“it’s about what our kids will wake up to if we don’t get rid of nuclear weapons,”
“it’s about whether our kids will wake up at all, if we don’t have the real conversation
about nuclear weapons and what we know they do,”
“It’s about what we can do about all of that, right now. Get rid of all nuclear weapons.”
“That’s the conversation we’ve never had. That’s the one we must have.”
And that is one way you might reply to the question, “What is the ‘Conversation’?”
—red slider, May 2016
Will you post this on my FB; people who are stuck on whether the President should bow or not to bow need to read this.
And elsewhere:
In Honolulu, a few days ago, the media gave much time to the Pearl Harbor
committee’s plans this year for the 75th anniversary with the theme being
Pathway to Reconciliation: From Engagement to Peace. It will go on for eleven days (can you believe it) with live streaming to Times Square, NY., and with 5 films being shown at Waikiki Beach.
In the news a couple of days later, I do a double take as the screen shows Pres. Obama visiting Hiroshima, the first U. S. president ever to do so.
Right about this time also, it’s announced that the Smithsonian has commemorated 12 Japanese American men who distinguished themselves in WWII, among them three from Hawaii (one of which was Dan Inouye), and again, among them many whose families were incarcerated in internment camps while they fought. They are emblazoned forever in individual plaques with their faces engraved alongside. I believe Pres. Obama was there for the “unveiling” as he is, after all, a Son of Hawaii.
We’ve had the Pearl commemorations every year, but the last two events are a first. They are truly momentous strokes in history and as a Japanese-American who is also a Hawaii native, I feel graced to have had them happen in my lifetime.
Marg, I’m proud of my home state for doing this. Thank you for your information. It’s not the same elsewhere and I hope Hawaii, with our President will lead the way to a place in history where we all gather together as one. Our here in CA, and elsewhere, the big question is should Pres. Obama bow?
Amazing, isn’t it? Keep sending the Aloha spirit out here.