The Sleeping Giant Roars Back to LifeSep 13 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Take up collections at your church or work, donate blood, but do not hate your neighbor.
I'm still not entirely able to express myself coherently in the wake of what happened here on Tuesday. I was sitting in my cube, shuffling papers and attempting to get some sample code for a new project, when people started rushing by me towards the elevators. The floor television, which had been tuned to a government information channel had been re-tuned to CNN, and people were watching, mouths agape, eyes tearing, the horrible destruction of one of this nation's proudest buildings, and the countless and unimaginable human toll of that destruction. I joined them, and the feeling in the pit of my stomach was one I still can't describe. And then, the news that frightened me further reached our television- a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I suddenly tasted fear as I have never tasted it before. Having an office drone job for the Federal Government suddenly had made me a target of unimaginable violence. Though in the back of my mind I knew I'd be fine at the end of the day, the rat maze of cubicles and mainframe computers no longer seemed safe. Within an hour, I had joined the steady stream of workers leaving the building on liberal leave. Several minutes later the building was closed officially. I was soon amazed by the tremendous heroism on the part of rescue workers, who knew that they too, could be killed at any moment. I was touched by the throngs of people waiting hours to donate blood that could save the lives of those hurt in the attacks. And I was never prouder to be an American when I saw the amazing solidarity on the part of the citizens and politicians of this great nation. As the shock subsided and the anger replaced it, I couldn't help but feel an unusual sense of pride that Americans, as a people, were not succombing to fear. We would not "fall to our knees" but rise up fighting, just as we have done historically. Then What Happened? I have been glued to the television since this began, and glued also to talk radio when I couldn't watch the news. The unthinkable began to happen just one day after the horrific event in New York. Fingers were being pointed, hateful political rhetoric being spewed across the airwaves. What had started as a rallied and cohesive American public became divisive and irrational. "Hillary Clinton and her communist friends are to blame!" "If it weren't for Bill Clinton's meddling, this never would happen." "If the first Bush had finished the job in Iraq, this wouldn't have happened!" "We need to send all the ragheads in the US to internment camps!" "If we never let those people in here, we wouldn't have this problem! We should deport every Muslim in the country then turn all of Afghanistan into a parking lot." People are rightfully angry, but now they are misdirecting their anger inwards- at our politicians, and our people. The vast majority of Muslims in this country, Afghans included, would lay down their lives and fight for THEIR country, the United States. If people continue to direct their anger in this false manner, we are letting the terrorists win. What is so wrong with people that they can't see what's going on? This is a time for resolve, for unity, for community, not a time for any member of this society to be attacking immigrants, or our politicians. This is a time for us to have faith that the right thing will be done. We will have years to point fingers and find someone to blame. But right now we need to focus on much, much more important things. This is not Hillary Clinton's fault. This is not Bill Clinton's fault. Neither of the Bush presidents are to blame. Aviation Safety standards are not to blame. The terrorists are to blame. No matter what the safety standards were, they would have found a way around them. If they had to gain citizenships and invent new weapons, or sneak aboard the planes some other way, they would have still done what they did, somehow. **** Shortly after those original hate-filled and misdirected comments, a young woman called the radio show in tears. She was an immigrant from Afghanistan, and her fear and anger shook her so much she could hardly say what she needed to say. What she said was that Afghans mostly hate the Taliban. They hate Bin Laden. She said that her country was the United States, and she would die for the freedoms she has been given here. Yet some Americans would tear her apart, she is afraid, in the streets, because she is Muslim. **** Focus, people. We must not let this insanity drive us, or the terrorists have won. They only succeed if we are driven apart. Our ability to stand together, to ignore our differences in defense of this country is what makes us unique in the world. The freedoms we enjoy are coveted by people all across the globe. We must protect those freedoms and rise from our knees with our heads held high and our flags clutched in our still-trembling hands. If we harrass American Muslims, they have won. If we doubt our leaders or blame them, they have won by planting seeds of doubt and fear in our heads. There is no room to give these monsters a foothold. Do not let anger blind you. Do not hate your neighbors and your leaders, but find any way possible to help the victims and the members of our armed forces who are surely headed towards a large conflict. Donate blood and money to the Red Cross, don't spit at the man in the turban on the street. The fact that there is this homegrown inward-pointing hatred present today makes me feel sick to my stomach. We must not let terror win, but let freedom ring instead. Fly your flags, Light your candles, and love your neighbors as never before.  |
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