Greg Freeman: Americans Are United -- And That Includes New Immigrants, Too, 9/13/2001

Headline: AMERICANS ARE UNITED -- AND THAT INCLUDES NEW IMMIGRANTS, TOO
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thur. 9/13/2001
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

The terrorists who attacked New York and Washington on Tuesday have succeeded in doing something that others have been unable to do for decades: They have united Americans against a common enemy.

Those who went through World War II know what it means to have a unified America. We had been attacked on American soil in 1941, and the country had to pull together. Baby boomers like me weren't around then. But many of us remember the Cold War that followed, ominous reports about the Iron Curtain, air raid drills in school, complete with the "duck-and-cover" practice of crouching on your knees under a desk if the nation is attacked.
     We had finally left that era, we thought. The idea that this nation would ever be attacked again seemed remote. Our children would never have to live with that kind of fear. We thought that we could look back at those "duck-and-cover" days and chuckle.
     But there's nothing funny about those days anymore.
     Not being around in the 1940s, I used to wonder what it was like for people on the home front to feel so patriotic that they were willing to sacrifice all sorts of things, from nylon stockings to chocolates. That kind of universal patriotism was a thing of the past, I thought.

No more. Today, many of the things that we've squabbled about recently -- politics, issues of race, tax cuts and the rest -- have become trivial compared to the challenge that the United States now faces. Right now, none of us should be Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. We should be Americans.
    Terrorism against our country is the enemy that we all have in common. Tuesday's deplorable actions took the lives of thousands of innocent people. Many, even some of the most peaceful among us, are talking about war.
    War may be inevitable.
    But as Americans, we should remember that our country is built on diversity, that the Statue of Liberty itself calls on the world to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore." Our nation is built on its immigrants, people who have come from all over the world. What happened Tuesday is a tragedy for all Americans -- blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, Christians, Muslims, Jews and nonbelievers.
     The tendency among some -- especially as officials suggest that the militant organization of Osama bin Laden may be responsible for the attacks -- may be to turn on Arab-Americans and Muslims here.

It's important to remember, however, that the culprits in this case are an individual group and do not represent an entire race or religion. St. Louis now has a sizable Muslim immigrant population, not only from Bosnia, but from several other Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Far Eastern countries. Many of them fled their homes in hopes of finding a better life here in America. They are now our fellow Americans and should be spared from threats and insults.
In fact, many Muslim groups, like the American Muslim Political Coordination Council, have condemned the terrorist attacks and have offered condolences to the families of those who were killed or injured. Like the rest of us, they too are in shock at what has happened.

The terrorists have pulled America together, uniting us against a common enemy. If it's true that Americans come together when we face a crisis, there can be no question that we have come together now.
The terrorists who thought that Tuesday's attacks would frighten and paralyze Americans will learn quickly that the only thing they have done is strengthen our resolve.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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