We all have painfully derived instances of selective memory. Things in the past that we have chosen to forget for the sake of mental health, sanity and quality of life.
Most of Michael’s lost memories revolve around painful sports losses. (He’s lived a charmed life.) Super Bowl XXXVI Rams vs. Patriots. Georgetown in the 1982 and 1985 NCAA basketball championships. 1994 NBA Finals. John Starks. Whenever sports retrospectives mention or show these events the channel is quickly turned. No need to dwell on the past.
Mississippi residents do not have this luxury. Their most ignominious historic event, their most painful collective memory, the South’s most humiliating and debilitating Civil War defeat, the picture of ultimate degradation…it’s a National Park and one of their state’s most known tourist attractions.
The Vicksburg NMP was, of course, set aside as a federal Site by Northerners and most of the first wave of its countless monuments were placed on the land by Northern Civil War vets. A second (and more permanent) siege than Grant’s May-July 4, 1863 lockdown.
We heard more than a few times that Southerners en masse refused to celebrate the July 4 holiday for more than 80 years after Grant’s siege was lifted. The date was too powerful a reminder of their own unsuccessful independence.
Our visit was awkward. Our accent unmistakenly Northern. We were treading on unwelcome historical ground. To the local residents, our prescence in town and on the battlefield could only indicate victorious glee. We destroyed this town and its people in 1863. Shouldn’t we be moving on to more pleasant memories.
NationalParksOnline.Net 