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Re: Today is a great day to be an American.
Posted By: Nyperold, on host 205.216.76.70
Date: Friday, September 14, 2001, at 11:53:20
In Reply To: Re: Today is a great day to be an American. posted by Grishny on Friday, September 14, 2001, at 09:40:03:

> No, it doesn't. I've started to see local news stories of Islamic mosques being vandalized and people facing harassment, and it saddens me. Is this what Japanese Americans faced during WW2?

Quite likely. Remember that the government moved them from neighborhoods where, in some cases, they grew up. Whether this was due to the government's hatred, or their fear of the actions their "neighbors" might take, I dunno. I'm sure it seemed like the government was against them to many at the time. And yet, there are stories of some of their(the Japanese-Americans') *real* neighbors taking care of things while they were away.

> These are Arabic Americans, citizens of this country, who love it and are just as patriotic as you and me and just as upset about this as you and me, and yet they must now live in fear because of the color of their skin and the religion that they practice. It's not right.
>
> Yet, there are undoubtedly Arabic people living in this country who do not like us and and are glad that this has happened. They have nothing but criticism for our society, all the while living here and reaping the benefits of our economic, politicial, social, and religious freedoms. I know this is the case.
>
> My sister, until a short time ago, worked for a day care center. One of the children under her care was Arabic. This child's father had nothing but unkind words and harsh criticism, not only for the way my sister did her job, but also for our country and our way of life. That family has since returned to their homeland, where they were quite possibly among those celebrating in the streets on Tuesday. How many more people like that are still living within our borders? How safe is it to have them here?
>
> There has to be a balance. We ought not become xenophobic and racist. We ought not fear and harass people because of their race or religion. But we also have to be vigilant. The terrorists were able to accomplish their mission because we were not. How do we prevent things like this from happening again without tearing down the liberties that we hold so dear?
>
> I don't know how to answer that question.

Nyperold