On his first Memorial Day as President, Barack Obama sent two wreaths to commemorate Civil War soldiers. The first was delivered to the African American Civil War Memorial, near the U Street Metro stop in the Shaw neighborhood, an overwhelmingly black district in an overwhelmingly black city. The second was sent from the White House across the Potomac River to a very specific area of Arlington National Cemetery, Section 16, specifically set aside for the bodies of Confederate soldiers. In the former case, Obama was the first U.S. President to send a wreath memorializing the sacrifice of black soldiers who fought to end slavery. In the latter case, he continued a centuryold tradition, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt, recognizing the sacrifice of white, southern soldiers who fought to preserve it (p. 160). Each case, however, as Micki McElya demonstrates in The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery, is the product of long, complicated histories, and a range of battles involving race, gender, nation, and historical memory. Throughout this fascinating book, McElya makes a strong case indeed that the struggle over who lived, worked, and was allowed to be laid to rest in Arlington is a powerful window into nearly the full sweep of United States history, particularly from the mid-nineteenth century on. As she writes in her introduction:

中文翻译：

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成为圣地

在他就任总统的第一个阵亡将士纪念日，巴拉克奥巴马送了两个花圈来纪念内战士兵。第一个被送到了非裔美国人内战纪念馆，靠近 Shaw 社区的 U 街地铁站，这是一个压倒性的黑人城市中的压倒性黑人区。第二个是从白宫穿过波托马克河送到阿灵顿国家公墓的一个非常特殊的区域，第 16 区，专门为邦联士兵的尸体留出。在前一种情况下，奥巴马是第一位送出花圈纪念为结束奴隶制而奋斗的黑人士兵的美国总统。在后一种情况下，他延续了可追溯到西奥多·罗斯福 (Theodore Roosevelt) 的百年传统，承认为保护它而战的南方白人士兵的牺牲（第 160 页）。然而，每一种情况，正如 Micki McElya 在《哀悼的政治：阿灵顿国家公墓的死亡与荣誉》中所展示的那样，它是漫长而复杂的历史以及一系列涉及种族、性别、国家和历史记忆的战斗的产物。在这本引人入胜的书中，麦克埃利亚确实提出了一个强有力的案例，即关于谁在阿灵顿生活、工作和被允许安息的斗争是了解几乎整个美国历史的有力窗口，特别是从 19 世纪中期开始世纪。正如她在介绍中写道：工作，并被允许在阿灵顿安息，这是了解几乎整个美国历史的有力窗口，特别是从 19 世纪中叶开始。正如她在介绍中写道：工作，并被允许在阿灵顿安息，这是了解几乎整个美国历史的有力窗口，特别是从 19 世纪中叶开始。正如她在介绍中写道：