Tuesday, Feb. 04, 2003
More on the Columbia tragedy, posted at 7:41 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com As the principal read announcements saying that the killed astronauts were "such true heroes. They knew the inherent dangers of their mission, yet they did what it took to follow their dreams," I again began to wonder about the seeming paroxysm of public mourning and outpouring of grief.In the same week during which the Columbia astronauts died:
* a 22 yo was stabbed to death at a party in San Jose
* a dialysis patient in Los Angeles killed a bystander when he accidentally rammed his car into the clinic entrance
* an unexplained explosion in a Nigerian bank in Lagos killed 30
* the chief of police of Grozby, Chechnya was killed when his car hit a landmine
* a US soldier died in a car accident in Qatar
* a Russian freighter sank off Turkey, killing eight crew members
* a fireworks explosion in Pakistan killed 17, including two children -- a 32 yo Oakland man was murdered by a robber
* hotel fire in China killed 33
* the state of Texas executed three men in three days
* a Catholic priest, visiting his homeland of Vietnam for the first time in 23 years, was stabbed to death
* an avalanche in British Columbia killed seven 10th grade students
* a 24 yo was shot to death in a San Francisco drive-by
* Two LAPD officers shot and killed the unarmed driver of a car stopped for suspicious activity
* seven soldiers in the Philippines were killed in a battle between government and NPA soldiers
* an Israeli tank opened fire on two Palestinian farmers in Gaza, killing them both
* a man in Jacksonville, FL drowned after his fishing boat caught fire
* a head-on train collision in Zimbabwe resulted in the deaths of 46
Are these 146 deaths not also tragedies? The murders included on this list represent only a fraction of the more than 1400 people who are murdered daily in the world; the deaths in wars represent only a portion of the 864 men and women who die each day in armed conflicts (WHO statistics). I haven't even gotten to the roughly 25,000 people who die each day of hunger and hunger-related conditions.
There is certainly an irony in the fact that no one would know these astronauts names if they had come back safely. There would have been no special announcements and no domination of the media. Are they heroes because they died?
Don't most of us face dangers and risks everyday? Couldn't we be killed on the freeway or shot by a robber at the 7-Eleven or felled by an aneurysm or even squashed flat by a falling piece of space debris? Why is facing those dangers less "heroic"?
What is it that NASA does to improve the human condition on this planet -- more than, say, spending NASA's $13.6 billion annual budget on something like schools or housing or finding a cure for cancer or AIDS? Why is it heroic to die in the service of satellite placement, of R&D for future weapons development, or of continued support of the International Space Station?
I believe that much of the sentiment expressed in the last few days is cheap sentiment, expressed because we as society need heroes in our world more than ever. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I think it's interesting to look at. Because the media focus and "spin" on what happened to Columbia cannot be escaped, it is certainly right to examine it.
What we have seen in the past four days is the valuation of some lives over others, and an examination of the situation is one that should make us consider our place in the world and our lack of attention to the other relative sorrows of the world. I again go to the mother, uncle, and five children who were murdered in an arson fire after reporting a drug dealer on their streets. They, too, knew the inherent dangers of what they did. But their commitment to making their streets safe for their and other families was enough for them to risk their safety. They paid with their lives, just like the crew of the Columbia. I fail to see how one set of people deserves adulation and days of mourning while the other does not.
It is strange. That is all. Not wrong, not evil, not even backwards. But strange. And worthy of examination. Folks like RaeAnn will say that I need to "get a brain," but I don't think examination of our culture's reaction to the tragedy means I am "heartless" at all. In fact, I think it's the type of wide-eyed thinking that needs to occur as teachers have to buy paper for their classrooms, while NASA gets one of the largest annual congressional procurements.