The Orbis

Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Opinion

The All-American Block Party has been a sticky issue on campus. It has been criticized for being tacky, offensive and tasteless. It has been defended on the grounds that it supports the troops and promotes campus unity. Certainly, the event as advertised both in The Hustler and on Facebook would appear to be, as has been put to me, "ghoulish and disgusting." Tying the troops (and thus the Iraq war) to Sept. 11 accepts a false connection as true, predicating this event on a bold-faced lie. Also, one has to feel outright revulsion upon watching the "official video" of the party posted on the event's Facebook page. Without a doubt, the use of images of faceless bodies jumping off of buildings is disgusting, and the appropriation of such images, even for "awareness" of a tragedy, is reprehensible. Compounding the issue with this party were various other superficially offensive factors. The use of the term "party" in conjunction with Sept. 11 certainly ought to give one pause on first hearing it. The somewhat goading slogan "Are You Patriotic?" only increases the confrontational nature of the event. If nothing else, this cookout should make many uneasy because of its flagrant use and abuse of a tragedy.

The way the party was promoted is worrisome because of the precedent it sets for the unfettered political abuse of a national tragedy. It is, first and foremost, incredibly partisan. That College Democrats are involved speaks more to the conciliatory leanings of that organization's leadership than to any true bipartisan unity on this matter. What this party entails is evident from the language of the flyers and invitations. It co-ops what is a shared and common memory into a purely political tool. How else could one make the connection between a charity that aids soldiers and Sept. 11? If this event truly were about simply remembering and commemorating Sept. 11 in a non-partisan fashion, the charity would actually relate directly to the victims of Sept. 11. There are many such charities, including the September 11 Orphans Fund and the New York City Police Foundation. These are charities which deal explicitly with commemorating and giving aid to those affected by Sept. 11. Soldiers' Angels is a wonderful charity that does a very important service, but unless it is taken as true that there is a link between the war in Iraq and Sept. 11, this charity does not relate to Sept. 11. To utilize Sept. 11 as an occasion to support the war and to celebrate its architect - the president - is a flagrant political contortion and a misappropriation of a national tragedy.

Continued...

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