Can't We All Just Get Along?

I was hoping I would find this essay. I wrote the following just 10 days after 9/11, on September 21, 2001, at a time when the brutal terrorist attacks were not a fading memory, but a present reality. I was annoyed at all the prejudices that were arising toward Muslims and Arab-Americans just because the terrorist attackers had been of Middle-Eastern heritage. Anyway, I decided to do what any passive-aggressive political activist does: write about it.

“Can’t We All Just Get Along?”
An Essay of Reflection on the Events of September 11, 2001

In light of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and with the horrific images still so fresh in our minds, this may seem like an unreasonable request.

There has been much debate over the level of apprehension and increased prejudices being exhibited by the American populace since the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and accompanying attack on Washington D.C. News stories have been pouring in about hate crimes against Arab-Americans, from the burning of Muslim mosques and vandalism of Muslim homes and businesses, to physical assault and even murder. It is as if we as a society have been returned to the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1945, when Japanese-Americans were being rounded up and detained in concentration camps. This is simply ignorance showing its worst face.

The fact of the matter is that, in the words of our President, “The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends.” The Enemy here is “a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.” These religious fanatics represent only a very small knot of humanity who have taken it upon themselves to attack the ideals for which America (and most of the world, for that matter) stands: peace, tolerance, equality, and above all, freedom.

We must face the reality that we are all human. The old adage “You can’t judge a book by its cover” has never been more true that it is today. Given the number of people in the United States, and the number of would-be terrorists residing in our country, the odds are overwhelmingly in any one person’s favor that they will never personally encounter a terrorist.

I have found that in the days and weeks following the tragedy, I have been going out of my way to be friendly to people who appear to be of Middle-Eastern origin. The reason also lies with the statistic mentioned above. I am certain that the majority of Arab-Americans in this country are feeling at least somewhat uncomfortable right now, considering all the reported prejudices against their race. I know I would be. It is therefore far more likely that by smiling and saying “hello”, I will be making an uncomfortable person’s day just a little bit brighter than that I will be making friends with a terrorist.

Come on people, wake up and smell the numbers! Not all people whose features and appearance seem to reflect a Middle-Eastern origin are out to destroy America. Chances are you will probably never come in contact with anyone who is in your lifetime.

One virtue that is rarely mentioned along with those that were attacked on September 11 is TRUST. America’s trust must not be broken by this tragedy. All Americans, black, white, Asian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, must band together and trust one another in order to persevere through this time of conflict.

The President asked for the nation’s prayers in a public address to Congress, and described the coming battle against terrorism this way:

“The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.”

Never has a U.S. President made such a poignant, decisive statement about the position of our nation. This is an ongoing moral conflict that can only end in success. The true victor, however, will not be a single country. It will be the individuals who fully comprehend the breadth of the issues at hand, and have chosen to uphold all of them, not just the ones we sing about in patriotic songs. We can be confident that the war will be won, but many battles may be lost if we do not put prejudice, fear, and hatred of our fellow-Americans behind us. If divided we stand, together we fall. America must stand united now.

The bulk of the essay still rings true today, though hopefully some of the unfounded biases that were rearing their ugly heads at the time have at least partially subsided.