Patriarchal Dominance & the 4th of July

Patriarchal Dominance & the 4th of July

Patriarchal dominance. My identity is so consumed with my last name that I often forget there are three other ancestral lines that have equal standing in my genetic makeup. The Rashid family reunion, my maternal grandmother’s line, is a yearly reminder of this.

The Rashids emigrated in the early 1900’s from Lebanon to various points in the Midwest, settling in both the cities and rural areas from Kansas to Michigan. This year’s reunion, from which I just returned, was in Washington D.C. (Bethesda, Md to be more accurate).

There is something special about being in Washington during the 4th of July weekend. All the sights seem to ooze forth a little extra meaning. none more than the starting point for Friday’s excursion, Arlington Cemetery.

The open-air trolley dropped us at the JFK memorial. Very touching, with Jackie buried next to President Kennedy on his right and his pre-deceased son, Patrick, on his left. His most famous and moving quotes were etched in the huge concrete veranda. In a separate area to the left was a similar memorial to Robert Kennedy. Tears welled as the song “Abraham, Martin and John” came to mind.

From there to the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is amazing how precise and focused these soldiers are. A guard’s waist can be no larger than 29” WITH the uniform on, so these young men were really “cut.”

The trolley driver pointed out various tombs and markers of famous military men and their role in either freeing, defining or preserving our nation. This was on my mind as we next visited the Vietnam, Lincoln and WWII Memorials.

Concrete and marbled magnificence, all of them! I mused that all the main sights of Washington, of our country’s most cherished heroes, of the 4th itself were forged from military might, from unimaginable courage and willpower.

Blazing 95-degree heat with sauna-like humidity intensified their impact. Being without sunglasses I viewed these sights through severely squinted sweat-soaked eyes. I could literally FEEL “the bombs bursting in air” that led to independence, democracy, acceptance of the world’s “tired and huddled masses” like my forbears, who in turned served in WWII, and thus to my standing on that very spot on this very day.

I naturally wondered about the war in Iraq. Would its future monument be one to a desperate nation-saving, back-to-the-wall life or death struggle? Or would it, like the Vietnam Memorial, be one that honors the valiant soldiers who courageously answered an errant call of duty.



The next day’s visit to the FDR memorial was a soul-confirming perspective on our nation’s past, present and hopeful future. Sitting on the banks of the Potomac, the FDR’s memorial is a peaceful setting. The sculpted concrete walls bear his resounding principles and are segmented into the eras of his four terms of office.

In his first term FDR confronted the nations collapse following the crash and Depression, but his optimism helped see us through. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” and he proclaimed government responsibility for fostering the Four Freedoms: of speech and worship and from want and fear.

Then this timely gem from his second Inaugural Address: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little."

While FDR successfully faced domestic insecurity his first two terms, in his third he led the nation against Germany and Japan, axis foes determined to crush us. “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

Clarity. Nations with the world’s strongest militaries declared war on us, and we had no choice but to do or die. No wonder our boys were itchin’ to enlist! “No matter how long it may take for us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”

It struck me that our wars fought for real protection, with a high moral purpose and undisputed clarity were the ones in which we DID prevail. Iraq, like Vietnam, is absolutely NONE of that. FDR would never have warred so unnecessarily for as he said, “I have seen war…I hate war.”

Most relevant for our future FDR nails it: “The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.”

FDR’s memorial reminded me that while our military might is the most visible of our country’s ancestral line, it is but one key enabler. Equally important are the values inherent within our social contract, the “united we stand” proposition that FDR saw as the government’s prime responsibility to foster.

Without that we may never have been able to withstand the axis powers. We would never have created the world’s strongest middle class nor become the beacon of leadership for the world to emulate.

Paternal dominance is mental. Memorials and reunions remind us of our whole story, our reality.

RFD 7/7/05