Lesson Learned or None the Wiser
We give power to the things of which we live in fear, the things we hate, the things upon which we base our negative judgements of others. There's a difference between remembering a past insult or injury and those who brought it to pass, and memorializing those things. The former allows us to learn, grow, and move forward carrying new wisdom, while the latter ensures that we remain afraid and retreat from any potential lessons. Instead, for instance, of reclaiming words and symbols that are appropriated by negative forces, we ban them for use in any of their former positive contexts and aggrandize the causes behind their hate-fueled or evil-associated uses. This serves two purposes in any society: It 1.) maintains divisions between people who have nothing more interesting to do than to debate insoluble moral questions - usually deferring inquiries as to what makes their position correct to their chosen higher power, be it God, science, or any other entity or school of thought t...