Garcia
Lacks Feeling or Logic
To
the Editors:
I
am writing this letter to the pseudo-intellectual who strongly believes
that we need many, many bombs in order to swiftly and
permenantly do away with the overwhelming threat of terrorism that
is unraveling the unblemished moral fabric of America.
This letter also goes out to all of the angry people who are ready
to brand people as terrorists because they are willing to consider
viewing this tragedy in more than one unified, marginalized and
bloodthirsty perspective.
Before I begin to address a number of disturbing issues brought
up by our dear friend Ms. Garcia, I would like to make two important
points. The first is that regardless of whether America decides
to go to war or not, the maintenance of innocent human life is a
policy that everyone must keep as their main objective. I believe
that it is reasonably safe to assume that it was a blatant disregard
for innocent human life that played an integral role in fueling
the mindset of those who committed this tragedy on American soil.
The second point is that in my neigborhood, while it is true that
you defend your property and do not offer half
to a thief who wants to steal everything, that does not give
you an excuse to run around and gatt everybody that you think is
the thief. In fact, in my 20 years in an urban environment
(which the media and prejudiced opinions of society consistently
and annoyingly liken to breeding grounds for uncivilized social
behavior, or war zones because of gang activity, but
I affectionately call da Ghetto), where I have directly or indirectly
been affected by the crime of robbery, I have noticed that banding
together as a community, educating your neighbors about how to defend
themselves with and without force and keeping a tighter rein on
strangers or faulty people that enter your community, seems to have
always been a more effective solution than the person-on-person
crime caused by vigilantism.
What I found disturbing about Ms. Garcias article was not
the fact that she was angry, but that while expressing her anger
she allowed herself to make some of the most ignorant statements
that I have ever encountered from a person who indirectly claims
to be a real intellectual. To say that I know innocent people
will die...if they did not fight against their government and remained
in such conditions, then I do not distinguish them from the terrorists
is no better to me than saying if African slaves did not fight against
the slave traders and owners and chose to remain in such conditions,
then they are not to be distinguished from their oppressors. There
was another article in which an alumnus named Paul Madavi expressed
a very personal, introspective and informative account of a person
who is from one of the the aforementioned nations in Ms. Garcias
article. Are you also willing to assert, Ms. Garcia, that others
left behind in Mr. Mandavis country (some possibly being his
family members) who may not fight against their governments out
of fear of being killed and their families tortured, rather than
because they are in agreement with their conditions, are terrorists
also? I should hope not. It is this type of arrogant perspective
of equalized freedom that may have perpetuated the Great Satan
stereotype of Americans in the first place. Also, as you are calling
for those opposed to war to wake up to reality, I believe
that all Americans should also wake up to the reality that we do
not have a clean slate when it comes to dealing with persons of
a different shade or religious affiliation. If we are going to go
to war, then so be it. But I hope that the decision to go to war
is sincerely to combat terrorism for the justice of all men, and
not to satisfy the wishes of those in this nation who use this event
as a justification for their pre-established hatred of those people
from the Middle Eastern region.
Shanelle
D. Jenkins
Double-Degree Fifth-year
|