Forgotten history

So we had this three-day weekend, a time to party and sleep in for one extra day. Everyone enjoys a Monday off. I don’t do anything special for Presidents’ Day, but I do know what it is. Americans have become so ignorant to their history that we don’t even know what holiday we are celebrating with a day off from school.

This week I have heard Monday referred to as Washington’s birthday, Lincoln’s birthday and that day after Valentine’s Day. Can we not simply remember the meaning of a holiday for our country?

It is Presidents’ Day, a day in honor of all those who served as president of our United States. We do not celebrate Washington and Lincoln’s birthday any more, we honor all those who served and represented us.

Americans have become some of the most ignorant human beings on Earth. In no other country does the populace show such apathy for its nation. Only about half of us vote, many of us can’t remember why we have holidays and all of us criticize our government as if we could do a better job ourselves.

In consideration of the fact that all American students at GW have an adequate background in American history from their high school career, that we all live in Washington, D.C., and that our school is named after George Washington, we should be aware of these dates and the meaning behind this holiday.

Yet students of this University do not know the meaning of this American holiday, a simple holiday described in its title. I wonder if we are ignorant or if we just do not care enough to use a brain cell to store such knowledge about America.

Many students here and at other schools claim they know a great deal about politics and the way this country works. But all they do is complain about the country. Criticism is fine, but everyone who does so must take time to respect the country they are able to criticize.

I would like to ask all those who consider themselves well-versed in the way the Unites States works to take a moment and really think about how much you know. You may know the details of American politics, but do you know why we had Monday off? Do you know who died to let us have parties at the end of the summer? If you don’t know these things, please do not criticize the country until you take the time to know it and respect it.

-Joshua Isard
freshman