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Did you do something constructive on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? Have you donated money to help the victims of the tsunami? What have you done lately to raise Holocaust awareness?

If any of the above questions irritate you, or if you're sick of hearing them, then you've already proven my point. We've grown adverse to these constant reminders of the past.

While many of us were actively involved, too many of us (including myself) saw yesterday -- a day when we should have been celebrating civil rights -- as just another day off. Why? It's not exactly because we're apathetic. Most Penn students are consciously sensitive to race. Rather, it's because we've become "learned" and "enlightened." In short, we "know" all there is to know about everything MLK Day represents, and we don't need to be reminded.

And what about the tsunami? Sick of hearing about that, too? The truth is, many people have tuned it out after just a few weeks.

That's the problem. When we are reminded of an event over and over, we become bored and don't want to hear about it anymore. The primary purpose of these reminders, however, is to keep us from forgetting the past and becoming complacent about these issues.

Let's talk about another "cliche" event: the Holocaust. Everyone knows about the Holocaust, and we don't need reminded, right? Well, it seems Prince Harry of the United Kingdom needed a reminder just last week.

As The Sun reported, the prince decided it would be a good idea to wear a Nazi uniform with a swastika emblazoned across his arm to a private party. When the photo came out, the royal family was shocked and embarrassed, and hurriedly apologized. Despite these concessions, two things are particularly disheartening about the occurrence.

First, young Harry took the time to pick out the costume, and he stayed for the entire party filled with people without anyone ever thinking maybe this was a horrible idea. Now I don't think for a minute that Harry's totally ignorant of the Holocaust, much less that he's a Nazi sympathizer. But it certainly does mean he originally thought the costume was okay and even entertaining.

Why? Probably because he thought that everyone knew about the Holocaust, and so the gesture was harmless and couldn't possibly be misconstrued.

He was wrong. The British people were appalled -- well, most of them.

The second thing that shocked me was a poll taken by ICM in The Sunday Mirror in which only 71 percent of Britons condemned Harry's decision. I say only because that statistic means more than one in four Britons found it permissible. Some might justify his decision, saying that it was a private party, or that he was just being young and foolish and didn't mean anything by it. But that's exactly the problem.

When we become casual or soft about things like swastikas, when we assume everyone knows the drill, then we're forgetting and history is likely to double back on itself.

Right here at Penn, I had the opportunity to help organize an on-campus program promoting Holocaust awareness. Despite days of standing on the walk, e-mails and hundreds of dollars in advertising, the turnout, though substantial, was less than expected. We came to the conclusion that many people didn't come because the Holocaust is old news. That's true; it is. But it's nonetheless relevant.

"We know that," you might say. "Of course it's relevant. But perhaps many people choose not to remember because remembering is difficult. It's not exactly fun to dredge up memories about the Holocaust or Jim Crow laws." True. It may also be the unfortunate case that some anti-Semitism and racism results from a few people being annoyed with these reminders. And on top of all of this, we have new crises on our hands.

However, it's often those people who undergo the grueling task of remembering who most effectively deal with new problems. For example, an African-American friend of mine is currently working to help Native Americans with their education. A campus group dedicated to the Sudanese genocide sprang from some individuals who were deeply conscious of the Holocaust. And a lot of the tsunami relief has come from victims of the Florida hurricanes.

To put it plainly, those who remember act.

And me? I also wanted to roll my eyes and shrug MLK Day off as just a fortunate break from class. Then I realized I needed to be reminded as well. We all do.

This campus offers dozens of programs to commemorate MLK Day. In fact, such activities continue beyond today and run into next week. So let's get off our butts and attend them.

This is just a reminder so you won't forget...

Justin Tackett is a sophomore in the College from Pittsburgh. Word! appears on Tuesdays.

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