In Anne Michaels' book, Fugitive Pieces, the author
states "there is nothing man will not do to another--and there
is nothing man will not do for another." Our terrible Tuesday
tragedy clearly shows this humanity in all of us: man's capability
of committing the greatest evil in the killing of thousands and our
capacity for committing the greatest good in the heroic saving of
hundreds of our fellow human beings.
How does a nation respond to this evil act, the
embodiment of the most deadly form of hatred? We hear the voices
that scream for revenge and retaliation for this "act of
war." We also hear the voices that seek answers to why there is
such hatred of the U.S. Government--and of us Americans.
This brutal attack on all Americans occurred only
days after the conclusion of the World Conference Against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR).
As we returned from Durban, South Africa, we were filled with a
sense of hope that nations now would have an awareness of the
suffering not only of their own oppressed, degraded, and badly
treated citizens, but also those of other nations. To address past
injustices, each nation agreed to implement prevention and
remediation programs.
During that conference, UNICEF Good Will Ambassador
Harry Belafonte discussed the abrupt departure of the U.S.
delegation after only three days of participation. He noted that the
U.S. stepped out of the WCAR when we should have been stepping into
the center of the conference's issues of racism, hatred, and
intolerance. This sidestepping of the very foundation from which
evil acts spring reflects a pattern of behavior encompassing our
nation's foreign policy, a policy that refuses to participate with
other nations in helping millions with family planning, in stopping
the sale of armaments and the use of landmines, in bringing war
criminals to an international court of justice, in engaging in
disarmament efforts, in ratifying international treaties to uphold
the rights of children and women, and in protecting the environment
through the Kyoto Treaty. And yet, during our recent tragedy, our
Government reaches out to other nations to seek their pledges of
allegiance in case of war. Thus, we urge other nations to join us in
an act of evil, the killing of people, but we are not willing to
cooperate with other nations in performing acts of goodness. In the
past, we have shown repeatedly our capacity to commit the greatest
good for all nations.
After the terrible Tuesday tragedy, we have to
conclude that our nation can no longer walk away from such issues as
racism, xenophobia, and intolerance, especially when such hatred is
directed at innocent Americans. We have to look within our
Government, seek explanations for this deadly hatred, and develop
the means to eradicate it. Of greatest importance is the need for
our Government to work with other nations in an effort to engender
the common good, to unite all of us in peaceful cooperation--as
though our lives depended on it.
