Do We Need More Days of Infamy?

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

 

It’s a good chance you’ve never heard the word “infamy” except in the concept of FDR’s famous speech.  The dictionary refers to “infamy” as “the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.”

Pearl Harbor certainly fits that definition.  Here in America, we actually have several of those days, although only 12/7 is usually refenced as a date of infamy.  There’s also…

•        November 11 – we recall the end of WWI at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh year.  Sadly, “remembering” the close of WWI didn’t keep us from WWII
•        September 11 – It’s not been quite twenty years, but 9-11 is another day of infamy, remembering the terrorist attacks in New York, DC, and in Pennsylvania,  although there was some doubt we’d remember I guess because they had to go and make it an official “holiday” (Patriot Day) and my guess is that in another generation there will be a call to make it another one of those roving Monday holidays like President’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, etc., so folks can have a four-day weekend rather than actually sit around and remember stuff.  Is that bitter enough?

My question is – do we need more of these days of infamy?  Sure do.

Consider the Holocaust.  No doubt you saw the headlines this Spring that a survey showed a number of Americans with a shocking degree of LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about the Holocaust.  Granted, it was a survey of those who were not alive when it happened (people age 18-39), but still –

•        Sixty-three percent of those surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
•        More than half of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million.
•        22 percent of respondents thought it was associated with World War I.
•        One in ten did not recall ever having heard the word "Holocaust" before.

No wonder the idea of mass genocide continues to resonate around the world.  Not as in “we will never forget” but rather “let’s do it again.”  Stalin’s purges, Khmer, Rouge, Boko Harem, North Korea, etc. etc. and sadly, etc. 

Want to read a horribly scary list?  Try this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history

 

So…When do we designate a day of infamy for those who have died of COVID?  Currently in the US, we experience the same death toll as 9-11 or at Pearl Harbor nearly every damn day this month alone (five times out of six so far and you know there’s more death coming).  COVID has killed twice as many people as soldiers who died during WWI (116,516), and my guess is it will kill more than died in WWII before it’s over (407,316).

We can’t forget.  And we can’t forget how it all happened.  I don’t know how we could just pick one day to represent the horror of COVID, but if we must, let’s use June 14^th.  That way we can remember the failure of the Trump administration to actually DO anything to protect Americans from the spread of the virus and honor those who fought (and continue to fight) to keep us safe.

Yes, June 14^th is Trump’s birthday.  Got a better date?