posted on September 14, 2001 03:44:55 AM
This thread has NOTHING to do with eBay, but I've appreciated the AW Mods letting us vent steam on this eBay board and it's a good feeling knowing they understand the current crisis in America is a big affect for sellers and buyers on ebay.
I want to share this with all of you. My sister in NYC eMailed this to me early this morning:
~~~
Dear Terrorists,
You are about to learn what the U.S. is about
They pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and
cultural issues, to provide words that help make sense of that which
troubles
the American soul.
But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting
disbelieving eyes, the
only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to
fit, must be addressed
to the unknown author of this suffering.
You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What
lesson did you
hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World
Trade Center, our
Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn?
Whatever it was,
please know that you failed.
Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned
your cause.
Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us
together. Let me tell you
about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a
family rent by
racial, cultural, political and class division, but a
family nonetheless.
We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous
pop cultural minutiae, a singer's revealing dress, a ball
team's misfortune, a
cartoon mouse.
We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of
trinkets and
material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk
through life with a certain
sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent,
though peace-loving
and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing
and to do it. And we
are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith,
believers in a just and
loving God.
Some people - you, perhaps - think that any or all of
this makes us weak.
You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong
in ways that cannot
be measured by arsenals.
Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in
shock. We're still
grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did,
still working to make
ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect
from some Hollywood
blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy
novel.
Both in terms of the awful scope of its ambition and the
probable final death
toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst
acts of terrorism in the
history of the United States and, indeed, the history of
the world. You've
bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.
But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody
and making us fall.
This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow
the last time anyone hit
us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt
and monumental pain.
When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in
our force. When
provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any
suffering, pay any cost,
go to any length, in the pursuit of justice. I tell you
this without fear of
contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not.
What I know
reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of
the future.
In days to come, there will be recrimination and
accusation, fingers pointing to
determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what
can be done to
prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened
security, misguided
talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from
this moment sobered,
chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably
determined.
You see, there is steel beneath this velvet. That aspect
of our character is
seldom understood by people who don't know us well.
Onthis day, the
family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will
weep, as Americans
we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense
of all that we cherish.
Still, I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach
us. It occurs to me that
maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your
hatred.
If that's the case, consider the message received. And
take this message in
exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what
we're about.
You don't know what you just started.
But you're about to learn.
posted on September 14, 2001 05:14:04 AM
The US is like a big grizzly bear that has just finally noticed that that little frufru dog chewing on it's ankle is really starting to irritate it.
posted on September 14, 2001 07:01:36 AM
Well, would you PLEASE resend it to whomever you did and mention the small fact that this is a column by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald.
Bad enough to completely violate the copyright by emailing/posting the whole thing (rather than sending a link).
It's a great, great column, but it angers me that anyone would send it along anywhere, not to mention post it here, without proper attribution.
posted on September 14, 2001 11:26:40 AM
Everyone:
There are many threads now open in the Ebay Outlook Forum that do not apply to E-bay activities and should be opened in the Round Table Forum. As of now, we are going to leave those threads open but in the future, they may be locked. Also in the future, please open any new threads in the Round Table.
Please be aware, we are not trying to stifle conversation, but despite the events of Tuesday, people are still doing business on eBay and need the eBay forum for business advice.
Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.
Thank you for posting that here. I have been away for a while, but wanted to see how all of my old friends here at AW were dealing with this tragedy. And of course, thanks to the author, Leonard Pitts. I am glad that people care enough to pass it around...
I am touched at how so many people are able to capture the sentiments of our nation in such beautifully written passages.
For once, I am reading all of the forwarded emails that are showing up in my box. I have found many things to remind me that the American Spirit will not be broken. If you had not posted that passage here, I would have likely missed the opportunity to read it.
