Monday, April 21, 2014

Good grief, can Boston move on?

As a Boston-area resident for over thirteen years now, I've come to realize that people around here tend to take city matters quite personally, and fellow resident matters quite collectively.  And they do so with prolific pride.  However at the same time it tends to be the only response Bostonians know, and like a race car that only knows speeds 100 and 200 it can be problematic when the roads are slick.

There is a time and a place for national sorrow, but when a bombing shook the city at the 2013 Boston Marathon the horrific tragedy unfortunately became more about the city and the perpetrators than the actual victims.  Within hours T-shirts were being printed with what would become the most popularized slogan ever for the city, "Boston Strong," a 'wicked' awful yet deliberate obliteration of the English language, and the city's obsession over catching the bombers gave law enforcement a blank check for rights violations.

The city and the nation still to this day have ignored the fact that one of the three people who died was a Chinese national, and the fact that close to one-third of those injured, runners and spectators included, were not even from Massachusetts, or the fact that the bombers were residents of the Boston area.  And the fact that Boston, in terms of the city, had actually failed quite miserably.  Boston failed to stop the bombers, and Boston failed to catch the bombers before more tragedy would strike, despite an enormous police presence and budget.  And spectators looted Marathon jackets within minutes of the bombing.  But regardless of the fact that Boston was literally shut down for days under martial law, that people were forcefully locked in their homes and subjected to violent searches, that innocent people were being blamed for acts they did not commit based on racist suspicions, or that all of this was done under the guise of freedom from terrorism, those who failed Boston were celebrated more than ever.  Police officers, the same officers who failed Boston during this time, were paraded into Fenway Park for standing ovations and pats on the back from the professional athletes whom are treated as Gods in Boston.  As they say, “never let a good crisis go to waste."  And these same officers were allowed to roll tanks and march alongside through residential neighborhoods with automatic rifles pointed at civilians while the commissioner went on TV to tell us how we ought to be graced by their presence and thankful for their violent and ineffective response and to which the mayor and the governor and every other bureaucrat would follow in applause.  And yet face-painted residents responded in droves waving American flags chanting "U.S.A."  The president was called up to announce a "debt of gratitude" to "law enforcement."  To law enforcement?  And when the runaway bomber was finally caught, ironically thanks to a civilian who was just freed from captivity in his home following the lock-down being called off, the frenzy over "Boston's finest" continued by announcing their bravery and courage.  Bravery and courage were strange words given the weapons, armor, spent rounds, and time that was needed to finally take down the wounded and unarmed perpetrator.  Given all of this the residents still clamored for martial law.  It was like watching a master beat his dog while the dog won't stop licking his feet.  Boston cared more about it's abusers than it did for it's abused, and still does today.

I had attended the marathon as a spectator several times in the past and always found it was a joyful experience mainly because you could walk freely along the route, with friends and family together, and do so during what is typically one of the first days when the weather is nice here in Boston.  So don't get me wrong, it was a tragedy that the bombers chose that specific day and that specific location for their atrocious act, or that such an act would even occur at all.  But at the same time it was a tragedy that the city chose that specific day and that specific location for their worship of the police state and the local sports.  It was to me the most disconnected response there could've been, tantamount to something like celebrating booze on labor day, or like obsessing over retail sales on Thanksgiving, it just doesn't make sense and it seemed to go against everything the Boston Marathon was truly about, things such as individual prowess and open opportunities.  A time when the city would literally open up to the world was now being used to celebrate the opposite of that.

Today the Marathon is being run with more runners and spectators than ever, as well as more police than ever.  And again the focus is on last year's tragedy and on finding opportune times to pronounce "Boston Strong" and to flash images on screen of 'heroic' police officers and the city mayor in remembrance.  It is apparent today that the city cannot fathom any public event without uniformed officers standing nearby holding automatic rifles, and without them confiscating backpacks and water bottles from the civilians, or without bomb-sniffing dogs on every block.  Yet we are supposed to call this a success for the city?  This is a recovered city?  This is a city that has NOT been shattered?  The subservient mindset being glorified as a city at-it's-best makes me embarrassed to be a resident.  The last thing Bostonians should be is complacent on a day like this.  The failure to recognize our failures does not make us stronger.  The sorrow that most Bostonians claim to have could not be more vain.  To take what happened to a few, and make it seem as though it has happened to us all, and subsequently overcome by us all, is pure vanity.

If Boston, and the rest of the nation as well, wants to defend itself from past acts of terror, then more of us need to be calling for an attitude of irreverence toward the government and the police on days like this, rather than worship.  I hope that one day I can attend the Boston Marathon with my family and no longer have to see sponsors profiteering off of tragedy, towels branded by an unethical insurance company being draped over the individual runners as they cross the finish line, announcers claiming individual triumphs as victories for America, or have to explain to my children why the presence of officers with dogs and guns are supposed to make us feel safer or stronger as a community.  Until then, Boston has been weakened.  Recognizing it as so will perhaps make us stronger, and moving on will certainly do so.