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Sentiments
of post Sept. 11 reflect ignorance, hatred Well the economy isn’t so great. What’s new? People do not feel as safe as they once did, and many are held in self-imposed capsules of fear. Now, thanks to Enron, many people are worried about their retirements and employee morale is pretty low. But not everything is suffering post Sept. 11 trauma! Oh no, ignorance is at one of its highest levels since Adolf Hitler was swept into power in Germany. That’s right. The message rings loud and clear from the White House to highway patrolmen: “If you aren’t from here, and you don’t agree with what we do here, then you are our enemy.” Actually, let me rephrase that: “If you look like you aren’t from here, and you don’t agree with everything we say and do here, then you are a terrorist.” Whatever happened to different? Whatever happened to the right to be a conscientious objector or to hold a different viewpoint? No, I am not talking about gun-toting, box cutter-wielding or bomb-wearing lunatics who have a depraved indifference for human life. I am talking about anyone who does not fit what the U.S. government regards as normal. And I am not talking about halfway across the world. All of a sudden people who considered themselves law-abiding, hardworking Americans are suffering the humiliations of racial and cultural profiling, false imprisonment and even physical and verbal attacks on themselves, their families and their property. Before jumping on the bandwagon of empathy, let me state this to my unfortunate Asian-American and Arabic-American friend, “Misery likes company!” For hundreds of years, and still today, black people in this country have endured these abuses. Quite often, attempts to present a united front as people of color have been shunned by these respective groups, seemingly because they viewed themselves as being of a different or, dare I say, superior class to blacks in America. Quite often they found quicker acceptance and had an easier time assimilating into the Anglo-American subculture, undoubtedly leaving many to even identify with this group. But since Sept. 11, you know how accepted you truly are, and are tasting what it’s like to have your civil liberties sacrificed, without consent, for the “greater good of the nation.” But good for who? The world isn’t a safer place with so much ignorance now floating around. Only hatred, mistrust, segregation, partiality and alienation prospers when groups of people are sought out and marginalized. And out of these reactions arise sentiments of confusion, anger and isolation. That’s the whole point of African-American Heritage month, to celebrate the contributions that one group has and continues to make to this nation. If you listened to the news, press conferences and political rhetoric (or ignorance) regarding other minority groups making their home in America, we might mistake the director of “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable” (M. Night Shyamalan), for an al Qaeda intelligence agent within our gates. People of TCU, let’s leave the intelligence gathering and snooping to the CIA and FBI. Don’t automatically assume that you need to call the cops or do an impromptu investigation because the person sitting next to you is from another culture. In fact, educate yourself. Attend the “Experience India” festivities this weekend here at TCU and learn about other cultures that exist and are thriving here in America. These are cultures of peace, cultures of family values and cultures seeking the same dream as everyone else whose boat or plane ended up here at some point in time.
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