Have you ever noticed how short-term our memories are over a period of time? You see this every time we have a hurricane season here in Florida. One year, a devastating hurricane will completely destroy thousands of homes, but then the next year will be relatively calm. Then, instead of being grateful that they are safe and prepared this year, I often hear people blame the Hurricane Center because they spent money over-preparing for nothing. As a result, the same people don't prepare enough for the following year and the same cycle continues all over again.
It's like watching a dog chase a parked car, running face-first every time, then forgetting how painful it was the following day. In my un-warranted opinion, the same seems to be true about 9/11, tax season, New Years resolutions, impulse relationships, over-eating, contributions to global warming, religious and racial discrimination, investing your money wisely verses reckless spending, etc, etc, etc.............. It's amazing we aren't extinct yet.
I watched an episode of “Jaywalking” from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he was interviewing a family, one-by-one, about what they knew about Independence Day. The mother, father, and son did not know who we are celebrating our independence FROM, nor did they know WHEN we declared our independence as a nation. (The mother thought it was around 1926!!!) Then, the grandfather came and answered every question correctly without any hesitation. Then Jay asked the grandfather if he knew what animal was on the United States seal, and he instantly answered, “The eagle”.
My guess is that the grandfather lived during a time in which persecution of African-American people was high and civil rights movements were more influential than they are today. Therefore, the need to be educated to counter this stigma was greater. Now that several years have passed by since these movements began, people (in general) don’t feel the need to educate themselves anymore because they are comfortable in their own little worlds and no one is affecting them directly. I see this even in my own family. How do we ever expect to advance as a society and as a species, if we do not remember the past to better the future???
The one exception that instantly comes to mind is the Jewish people. They will never allow another holocaust to repeat itself as in World War II. In my observation, they make it a point through numerous films, books, civil rights organizations, and politics to make sure the world will always remember the horrific consequences of hate and intolerance.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
