Obama’s Speech in Hiroshima via NY Times

This beautifully worded speech has really interested me on a couple of occasions over the past week. The first time was when I heard segments of the speech on the evening news. I was very struck that the address and the sentiments conveyed were so perfectly worded for the situation. The second time the speech hit my consciousness was after Donald Trump hit news stories saying that he would never apologize for Hiroshima because of Pearl Harbor. So I’ve read the speech in full, courtesy of The New York Times posting the text in full. First, it is noteworthy that Obama didn’t apologize America’s action over Hiroshima during the Second World War. What the speech conveyed was consolation and unity, a call to action for a better future. What happened in Hiroshima was truly horrible and it weighs heavy on our national  consciousness. Was it justifiable? Weighed in balance of the losses that had already occurred during the war, maybe. However, this speech wasn’t about justifying ourselves. The message is about valuing human life and taking responsibility for the future, which would be right regardless.

Here is the text in full.

In Reflection

I didn’t realize that the United States’ use of the Atomic Bomb during WWII was ever questioned until I was an adult in college. The question put to us: was use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki a necessary evil? We watched creepy Cold War propaganda, we read sad books about people living near nuclear test sites, and I, in my own mind, tried to justify why a country I loved had taken such extreme measures.

We do that as Americans don’t we? I belong to this country, I must defend everything we have done and find no fault in it. We judge nations as we judge individuals, they are all good or all bad. Isn’t it possible for an entity to have a conscience and failures at the same time? When we try to sooth or collective conscience and ask if we are absolved of this act, the question is unanswerable. We have no idea how other options would have played out in reality. We can not answer for the true motives of the final arbitrators of the decision to use the bomb. We can only judge an outcome and it is dubious.

We have the moral responsibility to spare as much innocent life as is humanly possible in every situation. The results of the A-Bomb by scale were so much greater and more devastating than the results of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I do not say this to minimize Pearl Harbor but simply because we understand that devastation so much more since it was against us, at our home. Alternatively when you reality of the scale of evil that was seen during WWII as death camps were discovered in Europe and the attempted extermination of an entire ethnic group was discovered, maybe such force seemed very practical.

I simply can not judge myself but today, on the 70th memorial of the attack, I take a moment to reflect. A popular park in Seattle will be floating paper lanterns in the lake to commemorate those that were killed and injured in the attack. I stand with them, I will remember and attempt with whatever small power I have to make the world a more just place. Today there are resolutions to so many atrocities that still have not come and those effected by them deserve a chance to look back from a safe distance and commemorate in peace.

Washington Post Article

From Hiroshima to Hope

Stand for Racial Equality

After the Charleston shootings, I was glad to hear so many come together in support of the African American community. It seems that this hate crime may cause our country to speak out in one voice and say, “We will not tolerate bigotry anymore”. I continue to hope the Confederate Flag in Charleston will come down as a symbol of our brotherhood in honor of the victims.

Poorly bandaged racial inequality has festered over the last years with the death of several young black men and the ensuing questions, conversations, lack of resolution and then riots leaving an open wound. Ignoring the reality of racial inequality in our social and justice systems will continue to make things worse. Trying to understand different perspectives alone will not help. It is time to declare where we stand. Do we stand for equality or will we allow injustice? I encourage you to state your position by sharing the above image on any of your social media sites. It is a small action but your voice has influence, let it be heard.