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Re: war…

After reading Ysoie’s post about the death penalty, I was all prepared with a response…asking questions, challenging, being challenged…  I had not pegged Ysoie as a death penalty supporter.  But then I read the horribly racist post by “WS” and everything else I wanted to say flew out the window.  

Ysoie, I love you.  And while I totally disagree with the death penalty (your description of being so torn was beautiful), I agree with everything you said in response to WS’s post.  

WS, take a step down from your staunch Republican soapbox.  Look around.  Like Ysoie, I don’t know where you live, but wherever it is, seek out someone unlike you today.  I know it’s a challenge, but try.  Have lunch with a Jew.  Ask your grandmother how she feels about the attacks.  Smile at the Asian family down the street.  Drive through “the other side of town.”  Cross the proverbial tracks.  Apologize to the first Muslim you see for having called them “rag heads.”  Read a book by an African-American poet.  Watch a foreign film.  Attend a church of a different denomination.  Do an Internet search on Buddhism.  Read a newspaper article about Roe v. Wade.  Don’t turn away (or turn your nose up) when you see a same-sex couple holding hands.  Watch a Spanish-language channel on television.  Grow up.

I don’t have to repeat Ysoie’s comments about how the actions of one so-called Muslim do not represent the views of all.  One person or group of people of Arabic descent doing something bad does not mean that all Arabs are.  After you’ve done all the things I mentioned above, have dinner at a German restaurant.  Make sure to assume they’re Nazi anti-Semites.

Look, WS, I respect passion wherever I see it, but come on.  Don’t be ignorant.  America has its problems, but we should all be thankful for the diversity and the tolerance we have in this country.  The things we take for granted others would (and are) kill for—and die for.

Michael, your challenge to Ysoie is unfair and racist at its root.  And it’s a bad argument to boot.  There are areas of Chicago that I wouldn’t want to be in (regardless of the time of day), but that has to do with what goes on in those areas—not what race of people live there.  Avoiding areas of town that you feel are unsafe is not racial profiling.  Targeting and discriminating against one specific group or race of people is.  

This list has many different members, many beliefs, and I have fought with a lot of you over the past 5 or 6 years (!), but I can’t believe the ignorance, hatred, and bigotry I am seeing now.  I sympathize with everyone who lost friends or family on September 11, but don’t use that as an excuse to be a racist.  

Michael, you said you thought the events of that day would have taught us all something.  It taught me a lot.  It taught me to be thankful for every day that I have with my loved ones.  It taught me to be thankful for my job, my house, my car, my dogs, and everything else I am lucky to have.  I am thankful for my freedom.  Maybe women aren’t treated as equals in this country.  Maybe we’re not paid enough or given enough respect.  And we shouldn’t stop fighting until we are.  But we aren’t killed if we show our faces or speak our minds.  Even though I didn’t vote for him, we have an elected leader in this country who is trying to protect us all and do a good job.  More than anything, Sept. 11 reminded me to be thankful.  For every blessing, every day.  That’s the most important lesson, don’t you think?

Jan

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