Memorial Day commemorations go back to the years immediately following the American Civil War. “Decoration Day” events, the precursor to today’s Memorial Day, seem to have started in the Southern US but they quickly spread to the North. Initially, women were the initiators of the tradition since it was women who were the primary decorators for the graves of loved ones.
The US National Park Service designates Columbus Mississippi as the site of the first Memorial Day commemoration on April 25, 1866. The women of the town decorated the graves of Confederate dead and then they recognized that the nearby graves of Union dead should not be ignored. These women acknowledged that the dead Union soldiers were the sons and brothers and husbands of other women who in many ways were much like themselves. So they decorated the Union graves as well. It just seemed like the decent thing to do.
Decency is an important American value. When I travel around our Congressional District 1 in East Tennessee, I hear stories from voters. I’ve heard concerns about a loss of decency. A woman in a grocery store wearing clothing that identified her as being from the Middle East was verbally harassed. A Hispanic family having a picnic in a public park was targeted with foul language. These actions are inconsistent with the values of our region and our country. Most unfortunately, they seem to have increased in frequency over the last year.
On Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices of those who lost their lives defending our country. We remember them and we respect the families who were severely disrupted by the loss of their loved ones. The fallen died defending American Liberty. One way we can honor their memory is by following the example of decency set by the women of Columbus, Mississippi all those years ago. Let us practice civility to one another, and let us stand up to those who fail to maintain American decency.