Existing comment:
Why DC?
Monuments have a special status in Washington, DC, capital of the modern world's first democratic republic. Proposed new monuments face an onerous permission process that can confer a kind of official blessing.
With monuments we enshrine heroes like Washington and Lincoln, celebrate triumphs, reflect on failures such as Vietnam. Memorials create and revise collective memory, proclaim our values, signal sympathy with our allies.
The Holodomor Memorial reminds us what horrors can result when a powerful aggressor subdues a weaker neighbor. Because the memorial is on American soil and was sanctioned by Congress, it can be seen as a call for US solidarity with Ukraine today as it again faces Russian aggression. |