---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment --part1_112.4a71637.28d53891_alt_boundary I received this from a friend. As with Jim, I will let this be my final=20 contribution to our discussion about the tragedy. In retrospect, I think=20 discussing this has been very helpful for me, as I hope it has been for all=20 of you, to vent my anger, to show my respect, to express my concern, and to=20 bear my sorrows. I will NEVER forget this day, but I, as do you, have to go=20 on with my life. =20 Peace, Hope, Prayer, and Love. =20 Wim > Subject: WE AMERICANS >=20 > Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 > WE=E2=80=99LL GO FORWARD FROM THIS MOMENT > by Leonard Pitts > It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that=20 > help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this=20 > moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only=20 > thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addresse= d=20 > to the unknown author of this suffering. > You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope=20 > to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our=20 > Pentagon, us? > What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that yo= u=20 > failed. Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your=20 > cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did yo= u=20 > 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=20 > family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family=20 > nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous=20 > emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a= =20 > ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. > We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and=20 > material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a=20 > certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -= -=20 > peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to= =20 > do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith,=20 > believers in a just and loving God. > Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes usweak.= =20 > You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that=20 > cannot be measured by arsenals. > IN PAIN > Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're stil= l=20 > grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to=20 > make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some=20 > Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. > Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final=20 > death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of=20 > terrorismin the history of the United States and, probably, the history of= =20 > the world. > You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there's a=20 > gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is th= e=20 > lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us=20 > 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=20 > provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any=20 > 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=20 > think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with= =20 > dread of the future.=20 > In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers=20 > pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be= =20 > done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security= ,=20 > misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this=20 > moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. unimaginably=20 > determined. > THE STEEL IN US > You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of ou= r=20 > character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this=20 > day, the family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as=20 > Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all=20 > that we cherish. > So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that=20 > maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's th= e=20 > case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange:=20 > You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't=20 > know what you just started. But you're about to learn. > (This was written by Miami-Herald Columnist Leonard Pitts, an African=20 > American) >=20 >=20 --part1_112.4a71637.28d53891_alt_boundary An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/b1/66/a1/77/attachment.htm --part1_112.4a71637.28d53891_alt_boundary-- ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Frederic L Beattie <bt49@juno.com> Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: WE AMERICANS Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 16:18:47 -0500 Size: 23929 Url: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/17/80/e3/cb/attachment.eml ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment--
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