Monday, May 21, 2007

Is Nothing Sacred?

Disrespect for the dead

I'm submitting this photo to Lensday--Sacred--but I need to prepare a much longer rant to accompany it. This is a photo from one of the oldest cemeteries in Chicago. Many of the graves are from the late 19th century. The neglect is appalling supposedly because the owner has condominiums in mind and has no intention of paying for upkeep. The lack of respect for the history, families and those interred there has me livid. I'm glad that's not my great-great grandmother buried there. More to follow when I have a bit more time to check my references. Work now.

6 comments:

Attila the Mom said...

Oh, that's just appalling. :-(

I have visions of Poltergeist in my head.

Rayne said...

This is horrible!!! Is there anyway you can make this photo public? Write and article to accompany it and send it to the paper? Something?

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

That is horrible. For all the pathetic upkeep in some parts of Italy (ahem, no trash collection in Napoli for weeks at a time!), I can honestly say I've never seen a cemetery like this here. Ugh. Really, that is just so disgraceful.

Unknown said...

Actually I'm trying to figure out a way to respond to the mess. Sending a picture to a couple of Jewish agencies was one thing I had thought of.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That is appalling. If it were my rant, I'd probably expand it to talk about Anglo-Americans' disrespect for the dead in general, which I relate to our disrespect for the earth and the living systems that support us. But this one picture says so much, I'm not sure it needs much commentary at all.

Unknown said...

Like a dope, I hit delete on this comment from pepper.

Pepper has left a new comment on your post "Is Nothing Sacred?": Dave is so right and so are you. I love old cemeteries. Who called a cemetery "the city of the dead?" It is true. There are stories, hopes, dreams, and love in a cemetery. If you want to know the town you are in, go to the cemetery. It is sad to see the vandalism, the destruction of cemeteries. I have seen, first hand, the total disrespect Anglo Americans have for their family after death. I have seen racial segregation in cemeteries also. There lies the truth when you visited a segregated cemetery regarding the disrespect. It angers me tremendously when I see a cemetery being destroyed. When I went home this month, I went to see my favorite cemetery. It was located on Lake Road 5-65; I had been there several times and I knew the location. Guess what? It is gone, replaced by a subdivision.