Re: another point of view

[Maree McHugh <mchumare@turbonet.com>]

Dear Friends, 
the letter shared by Mr Mesbah was most poignant.  It is personal
stories like these that bring the warmth of our shared life-blood to our
hearts.  Thanks for posting this.
Shahab has been writing so often on this BB, I must appreciate his
dedication and insights. The dialogue is important, we need to stay
alert, informed. However I  must admit that since Sept 11, I have become
overwhelmed, and at some point my eyes began to glaze over in face of
another commentary or essay, and at work found myself turning off any TV
blaring the tragedy  that did not have anyone sitting in front of it to
absorb the information and experience.  There is no escape from such a
tragedy and crisis, but there MUST be peaceful, centering moments when
one can breathe fully, regenerate and keep going.
Terrorism like discrimination is most insidious.  Discrimination is a
form of terrorism, in my opinion.  It is subtle and creeps into any tiny
little crevice or opening it can. 
I have felt terrorized by the events of the last 3 weeks. Freedom
threatened. 
But I have found  comfort in being here, in our Village Moscow, among
friends, co-workers, familiar faces, the late summer sun.  Every moment
precious.  Every hope and tear a prayer.  
I don't have astute political commentary to share on this BB. My best
guess is that I share what most of us feel:  fear, concern, uncertainty.
M. P. McHugh

Shahab Mesbah wrote:
> 
> Dear Friends,
> 
> The following letter was written by a friend, Liam Randall, and sent to
> three of NPR's news programs, as well as a few other places. I was very
> impressed with the principles stated in the letter... enjoy!
> 
> "Your brother in arms"
> Shahab...
> 
> Friends:
> 
> I am the Caucasian husband of an American Indian professional woman who
> works as an epidemiologist for our Federal Government's Centers for Disease
> Control and Prevention.  She is currently a doctoral candidate at the
> University of North Carolina's School of Public Health.  I would like to
> present a point of view which I have not yet seen represented in the media
> on a subject which has been given a great deal of attention, to the credit
> of our leaders and media.
> 
> In the wake of our great calamity, some of us have succumbed to their baser
> natures and seen fit to treat fellow citizens as scapegoats for their grief
> and rage.  People with different clothes, such as turbans or scarves, or who
> because of dark hair and complexions look like they may be from the Middle
> East, have become targets for evil looks, epithets, violence, and even
> murder.  I am sad to say that those whose ancestors met and welcomed the
> first visitors and immigrants to these shores hundreds of years ago, usually
> to their immediate or eventual regret, are also in this group.  My wife, who
> is full-blood Nez Perce, and quite dark, with long, dark hair, has been
> getting more than the usual amount of stares, lately accompanied by
> finger-pointing and whispers. Her Indian colleagues have confirmed that it
> is not just her imagination:  all around the country they are seeing the
> same thing.
> 
> Can you imagine how it feels to an American Indian to be told to "go back
> where you came from?"  What a terrible irony.  Whether a Brahmin in a Boston
> mansion, a member of an old Savannah family, or a descendant of the founding
> governors of New Mexico, to these people every one of us is an immigrant.
> My father has ancestors who came on the Mayflower.  My mother was the
> daughter of Italians who came through Ellis Island, and felt the pain of
> prejudice.  She spent her life championing civil rights, subscribing to
> Ebony Magazine in the early 1960s, arguing for equality, often to the
> derision of her neighbors and some members of her own family, and eventually
> living the last 25 years of her life on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, of
> which she wrote that she could "breathe no other air."  She is buried in my
> wife's family cemetery; she is the only non-Indian buried there.  But not
> everyone can see others as anything but "other."
> 
> Think: does anyone imagine that the men who committed these acts were
> wearing desert robes, turbans, and swords?  They were able to do what they
> did because they looked pretty much like anyone else in the airport.  And
> this is the difficulty we face in fighting this menace--he is not what we
> expect.
> 
> This is the strength of the United States of America: it is the most diverse
> nation in the world.  We embody some of the spirit of all the world's
> peoples.  Now we continue to face our greatest test: to embrace all our
> differences rather than seeing them as obstacles or sources of fear and
> mistrust.  So many have risen to the challenge and given us reason to be
> proud, yet a few still bring us shame by yielding to ignorance, fear and
> hatred.  This is how the terrorist wins.
> 
> The way we win is this: unite in ways that we never imagined, both within
> our nation and around the world.  Recognize that what we have in common
> counts for much more than anything else.  In the long run, nothing else
> counts for much at all.