Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| AN OPEN LETTER - from a professor at USC |
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| bhaloo |
| 09/12/01 at 15:40:43 |
| From: Timothy R. Huerta <thuerta@usc.edu> Subject: September 11, 2001 AN OPEN LETTER I can not express to you enough my great concern over the backlash that this country may unleash on people of Arabic descent. While I hope for the best, I am not heartened by our history. One need only ask the Japanese-Americans who were the victims of such fear mongering during World War II about their experiences. At about 4 pm on September 11th, I was online listening to the comments around the United States and my apprehension grew. Rather than focus on helping, many people are focused on retribution, and not on the perpetrators but rather on an entire community. I am reminded of the movie, "The Siege", where Bruce Willis, playing an Army general, goes outside of the law to bring his form of justice to what he views as the perpetrators of several terrorist acts. People were locked up in that movie if they seemed to be of Middle-Eastern descent. Families were ripped apart, and upstanding citizens, indeed one of the main characters of the movie (a police detective) began to be viewed as a suspect. Not only do we need to manage our own grief, but we have a duty to challenge those who would try and replace fear of the unknown with fear of ourselves. After the Oklahoma bombing, everyone pointed their fingers at Middle-Eastern terrorists. Calls for retribution were quickly silenced when it was found that the terrorist was Timothy McVeigh. He looked nothing like what the media had painted. He was not Middle-Eastern, not part of a radical terrorist cell - he was a crazy American. A person orchestrated terror on our country in Oklahoia and a person or people did the same on September 11, 2001. We need to hold THOSE people accountable. This is not about political correctness, its about JUSTICE. Also, show support for those whose trial may just be beginning, not through word, but through deed. I have friends who are concerned about their well being because they may be mistaken for Middle Eastern. Don't just say something about combating racism, do something about it. Talk to friends. Talk to family. Talk to students and teachers. Get it out in the open. Don't let racism fester. Speak out to fight ignorance. Don't stand back while your friends make racist jokes against ANY group. Be part of the solution, and not part of the problem. Donate blood to the Red Cross. Take a stand. If you want, please feel free to pass this along, and I hope that all my fears are unwarranted. -- Timothy R. Huerta Doctoral Candidate and Part-Time Lecturer School of Policy, Planning and Development University of Southern California thuerta@usc.edu |
| NS |
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