September 11 -- Renamed?

[level_head]

On another LJ, there is a complaint about this date being called "Patriot Day". The writer was concerned about, among other things, the "loss of liberty" that followed (I disagree here -- LH), and points out that April 19th is already "commonly celebrated" as Patriots Day

Comments

[deckardcanine]

I suppose we could treat "9/11" the same as "the Fourth of July," whose significance is probably known to most people in the world with a high school education. Of course, that day has another name which, I believe, is considered more formal. "World Trade Center Day" is still long, and "WTC Day" takes about equally long to say.

On 9/11/03, a Washington Post editorial said that we shouldn't even consider it a holiday. I don't recall the author's precise reasoning, but it probably had to do with the ill-defined notion of "letting the terrorists win." In any case, he's clearly outvoted.

It is an unusual sort of secular holiday for Americans. Offhand, Pearl Harbor Day is the only other one I know to commemorate an unhappy moment, and I've barely heard the term.

[level_head]

Nor had I encountered 9/11 as "Patriot Day."

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Nor had I encountered 9/11 as "Patriot Day."

[deckardcanine]

First time I heard of it was today.

[wolfp10]

When I turned my desk calendar to September, I thought "Patriot Day" was a Canadian holiday at first.

[rowyn]

Making it a *holiday* is definitely inappropriate, given that the USA only uses holidays as a reason to celebrate. I can think of few things I'm less inclined to celebrate.

Pearl Harbor Day isn't a holiday as Americans normally use the term, either. For one thing, no one gets the day off from work. :)

[level_head]

Making it a *holiday* is definitely inappropriate, given that the USA only uses holidays as a reason to celebrate.

Agreed. As Prester_Scott suggested, though, we'd do well to learn something from it.

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[deckardcanine]

So what do we call it? ...Eh, I guess it doesn't have to be classified as anything. We just recognize 9/11 for what it is: the day a huge tragedy occurred that changed our cultural landscape for years to come. Not unlike Black Thursday.

It now occurs to me that we won't want to use "9/11" to refer to both the anniversary and the date in 2001. Maybe we do need an alternative name for the latter.

[jordan179]

I always, sarcastically, call it "Japanese-American Friendship Day." ;-)

[level_head]

You're not Pearl Harboring a grudge, are you?

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[jordan179]

That is a pun that will live forever in infamy :)