My Address To The Secretary Of State Concerning Recent Terrorist Attacks

Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I am here today to speak to you about a growing concern of mine in the aftermath of a great tragedy.

As we are all well aware, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have caused great turmoil in the United States, as well as around the world. As a result, many changes will occur in order to help preserve the American freedom and safety that the United States government was founded upon. Now the question lies before us, “what is the best way to go about protecting American citizen’s safety without infringing on their rights as Americans?” We must start by looking at disasters that have occurred in the past, how they were dealt with, and what consequences resulted from our dealings. What event more similarly portrays this than the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor?

In the early 1940’s, directly following the Japanese surprise attack on the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Americans began to look at Japanese-Americans differently. I wave of racial hatred swept the nation towards these Japanese-Americans. They quickly lost their title as American citizens and were classified as “enemy aliens”

On another level, we need to make sure that innocent Arab-Americans aren’t viewed as being guilty of a crime in which they had no part of. I will stress the fact that education upon the subject is the key solution. Television specials should be produced to give all the facts to the public. We should have a television show that depicts what it can be like to be the victim of prejudice, and another one showing how the Japanese-Americans were treated in the 40’s. Our public schools need to require the teachings of equality through the use of guest speakers, literature, and by creating a diverse environment surrounding them. It is equally important that we, as parents, encourage our children to treat all others as equivalents. I know from personal experience that if a child is surrounded by others of various ethnic backgrounds, he or she is much less likely to stereotype others when he or she is an adult.

Today we face an analogous situation to what took place in the 40’s. Since the terrorists that launched the recent attack against the United States are of Middle Eastern origin. I fear that those of Arabian descent that are American citizens will be faced with the same prejudices that were seen by the Japanese-Americans in the past. At the same time, we must do everything in our power to prevent future terrorist attacks from occurring. It is obvious that these attacks were organized by many people and that we must locate and punish those who are responsible. Some of these co

Some topics in this essay:
Middle Eastern, Americans Japanese-Americans, Attacks Ladies, Pearl Harbor, Thank God, pearl harbor, terrorist attacks, American Naval, american citizens, middle eastern, attacks september,