[Newspoetry] Re: [etc] gaining a little coherence...

[Daniel Brown]

RJ,

*hug*

First of all, as sad as this makes me, I think you're right to be cautious.=
=20
There are idiots out there who are striking out against americans of arab
descent, and those very same people aren't likely to stop and make certain
that they even have the right ethnicity.  So, a couple pieces of advice:

You dress like an American.  Continue to do so.  If you find yourself=20
feeling uneasy in a certain crowd of people, try to talk - in many ways,
I've always found you to have the best of American speech patterns, both in
word choice and in accent.  Try not to wander out of largish crowds. =20
Leave your cell phone on, and if trouble strikes, call 911 - most cell
phones can do this merely by holding down the 9 key for 3 seconds.  Beyond
that, use your survival skills, both in avoiding and handling problems - I=
=20
know you have some.

Secondly, I just feel that I need to say something that your message has
done for me.  You just killed my bloodlust.  I've been warring with myself,
part of me wanting to see a quick and deadly reprisal to this attack, part
me realizing that any standard miltary attack will hurt more innocents than
anything else.  My personal war is over.  I want to see the individuals
responsible brought to justice, but not at the cost of more innocents.  I
guess it's pretty sad that it took seeing one of my close friends as
a possible casualty of the fallout to do this, but at least I'm there.

Finally, I feel a need to point something out.  While the war is still
being waged, make not mistake that this battle was a complete victory for
the terrorists.  Not only have they killed countless people, but every
known secondary goal has been acheived as well - the markets are closed
until friday, possibly monday, the US practically shut down for an entire
day, the US is still running in a very limited capacity only.  And worst of
all - it has turned Americans (only some, but that's all that's needed)
against themselves.

People, let's not give them any more victories if we can.

-d

P.S. RJ - I'm out of town today (which is why I'm up at this ungodly hour,
about to leave - have to drive, you know), but if you need to talk,=20
I'll be home late tonight.


On Wed, 12 Sep 2001, Ranjan Banerji wrote:

> Brothers and sisters,
>=20
> I'm in shock.  I went to the gym today and couldn't concentrate, constant=
ly
> looking over my shoulder, waiting for someone to decide that the color of=
 my
> skin was something that reminded them of the people we're being told brou=
ght
> death and destruction to New York City and Washington, DC.  I tried
> concentrating, tried thinking just about my breathing, and then slowly be=
gan
> to fail.  I turned down, then off, my CD player, and then just stopped.  =
And
> looking over my shoulder again, cautiously went home.
>=20
> Reprisals against Arab Americans and foreigners are going to happen, and =
I
> am angered to have to be worried about it.  Not because I'm Arab (I'm not=
),
> not because I'm not Arab and people will mistake me for it (I've accepted
> it), but because I just don't know what to do.  I don't know how to prete=
nd
> to be a foreigner, to be invisible and self-effacing, to be happy and
> grateful that a country that I was born in is generous enough to let me
> stay.
>=20
> Even now a mosque in Bridgeview is surrounded by local police dispersing =
a
> 300+ strong group of flag-waving people bent on storming the mosque as a
> symbol of Arab and Moslem tradition in the United States.  Even today a
> Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Arab school in Chicago.  Which is worse=
,
> that the bomb was thrown at the school, or that the school was prepared
> enough to have all their windows made of Plexiglas instead of plate glass=
,
> and that as a result no one was injured?  All Muslim schools were closed
> today even as Chicago public schools remained open, as they were closed
> yesterday, in a tacit vote of no-confidence in the ability of the city's =
law
> enforcement agencies to guarantee the safety accorded so easily to others=
 of
> more comfortable backgrounds.
>=20
> I was surprised to see CBS rebroadcast portions of a segment they ran abo=
ut
> two months ago in which they interviewed several militant Moslem activist=
s
> based out of Pakistan.  Several people interviewed explained, without
> justification, thusly.  The American people would be outraged and would
> demand retaliation if thousands of Americans were killed in a systematic
> attack.  So why are the people attacked by Americans, by American allies =
and
> client states, by students of American military doctrine, supposed to be =
any
> different in their response?  They were asking for it, perhaps?  Try usin=
g
> that defense against a rape victim, if you're unclear about how stupid
> *that* is.  The answer is the depersonalization and dehumanization of our
> enemies into nothing more than a clich=E9, in this case the enigmatic and
> inscrutable Muslim "fanatic".
>=20
> Perhaps it would be easier if they wore uniforms, or if we saw them with
> their children, or if we heard from them more often than we do.  If our
> media is so liberally biased, then how come the only way an Arab can get =
on
> TV is either
>=20
> -- to be accused of a terrorist act,
> -- to be asked about said accusation of another Arab or Muslim,
> -- or to be caricatured.
>=20
> If we trust the television reports, not a single foreign physician seems =
to
> be working in New York's hospitals today; every healthcare facility is
> staffed with less diversity than the hospital in the show "ER".
>=20
> This morning I went shopping and my palms were sweaty walking around.  I
> found myself trying to smile at people hoping that they wouldn't take me =
for
> one of those people.  Last night my brother (who has a medium complexion,
> black curly hair and a full beard) went out to get some fresh air and for=
got
> his mobile phone.  I nearly lost my mind calling him, eventually calling =
a
> friend of his and finding him there.  When he got on the phone, through m=
y
> fear and my wish to invoke my older-brother privileges, I had the composu=
re
> just to recommend that he find a safe way to get home and to call me once=
 he
> was there.  If I ordered him to go, I would be telling him that they won,
> that the terrorists have made me afraid to let my brother go out and walk=
 in
> his own country, in his own hometown.
>=20
> More later, I can no longer continue.
>=20
> Quote of the day:
> "Let=92s mourn, let=92s grieve, and when it=92s appropriate let=92s exami=
ne our
> contribution to the unsafe world we live in.
> -- Michael Moore, http://www.michaelmoore.com/2001_0912.html
>=20
> --Ranjan
>=20
>=20
> --
> Ranjan Banerji              "I know you believe you understand
> ranjan at banerji.net          what you think I said, but I'm not
> Luminary, Sage, Thinko      sure you realize that what you heard
> The system shall evolve.    is not what I meant." --Hiyakawa
>=20