I haven’t heard any other Arab-American say what I am about to say. Maybe I just missed it. Perhaps someone has spoken out before today on this subject. I hope I’m not the first.
More than a week has passed since the despicable, evil attack on America – an attack apparently planned and conducted by Islamic terrorists.
Not only is the attack dreadful for the death and destruction it has already wrought on our country. It is also ominous for what it could mean to our future as a nation – our freedoms, our individual rights, our very way of life.
Everything changed for America on Sept. 11, 2001. It will never be the same. Nor should it be the same, again. We owe it to the victims – and to potential future victims of this kind of violence – to be much more vigilant as a nation, to be more prepared, to be more alert to the dangers of this world.
Yet, we do not want to turn America into the kind of police state the Osama bin Ladens of the world like so much. We want to preserve our unique American freedoms. We want to expand them.
War, however, has a way of diminishing freedoms – at least temporarily. I take a backseat to no one as a civil libertarian. I’m practically an absolutist. Whatever sacrifices we make in the short-term in our efforts to fight this elusive enemy, must not translate into permanently shrinking liberties at home. If they do, then Osama bin Laden and his allies will have achieved a minor victory.
I offer all this simply as a prelude to my main point today: Arab-Americans need to understand the suspicions they are bound to encounter as a result of this heinous attack. Such suspicions are a natural outgrowth of such a man-made disaster. We have a special obligation to make clear where we stand and to do what is necessary to help our country – the United States of America – deal with our common enemy.
What do I mean?
I mean Arab-Americans should be prepared to accept the inevitable concerns other Americans will have about us, about our loyalties, about our heritage in the wake of this tragedy.
I am not condoning bigotry. I am not suggesting Arab-Americans should be ready, willing and able to be shipped off to internment camps for the duration of this conflict. I am not saying the U.S. government should make it official policy to check out every Arab-American. I am not calling for the reinstitution of loyalty oaths.
What I am calling for is understanding. When I fly El Al, I expect to get a thorough going-over by airline security. I expect my bags to be completely searched, while those of travelers with a non-Arabic surname get less scrutiny. In fact, I appreciate this treatment because it protects me as much as it protects the other passengers.
In other words, we live in a real word of real threats, real risks. It is ridiculous to expect people to dismiss from their minds the fact that 90 percent of the world’s terrorists are, sadly, of Middle Eastern origin. It is foolish to think Americans are not going to add two plus two and get four. It is silly not to believe that people make judgments based on appearances, on ethnic traits and, yes, even about our names.
“But, Farah,” you might say, “that’s racial profiling at its worst! Surely you are not advocating that kind of racism?”
No, I am not advocating it. I am trying to say it is a fact of life. It is reality. It’s a recognition of human nature. People do discriminate – and discrimination is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it just makes sense.
I can say this, now, because I am a potential victim of it. My kids are potential victims of it. Do you know how sad I would be if my children were mistreated because of their last name or their ethnic identity? I’d be pretty upset.
But I will live with it. And so must other Arab-Americans, particularly in this hour of crisis.
This Arab-American (oh, how I hate those hyphenated descriptives!) doesn’t have any divided loyalties in this titanic struggle in which our nation is consumed. I’m standing up for my country – my only country – the USA, and telling the world where I stand.
It would be good for all Arab-Americans, all Americans of the Islamic faith and all Americans of every ethnic and religious persuasion to do the same. It will be better for us – and better for our country. Let the whole world know where you stand.
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Network ‘news judgment’ depends on who benefits
Tim Graham