“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”         Edmund Burke



I woke this morning to the news that violence against Muslims has again increased across the country.  In New York City a hard working cab driver was attacked and is now in hospital with multiple stab wounds about his neck and face.  His attacker is proud of himself.

And so congratulations must be offered to those who profess loudest their great patriotism; those who claim to be proud of the freedom, justice and democracy we enjoy while attempting to deny it to certain others; to those who claim they are upholding the constitution all the while ignoring the very foundation of our democracy and ignoring the law. Congratulations, you have shown the world the worst and perhaps, sadly, our true selves – you have confirmed the accusations made against us with your hateful, shortsighted and cowardly actions and are making us less safe.

Maybe this is indeed who we are, for there should be a deafening chorus of reasoned and educated voices muffling the croaking of the ill-informed, radical minority perpetrating these hate crimes and stirring up fear. But Michael Bloomberg notwithstanding, the reasoned voices are few. A robust cry of outrage should be coming from every citizen as well as from every official in every state capitol and in Washington. Our voices should be raised loud, often and with heads held high for in protecting others rights we espouse true democracy and that is the true patriotism. Elected officials need to expose, disavow and rightfully shame the intolerant, vindictive political celebrities who are irresponsibly and intentionally exploiting the fears of some Americans for self-aggrandizement with their anti-American and fear mongering rhetoric.  To be silent among this malice is to condone it as a legitimate path of argument and behavior.

The America that I thought I knew, that I grew up believing in, is not the one I see reflected on the morning news. I see a country in which young men are beaten to death because of sexual orientation, doctors who perform legal procedures are shot and where the color of your skin or the religion you follow or none targets you for violence. I see citizens advocating for arbitrary application of the rule of law.   

In the America that I believe can exist, people of all walks of life band together, particularly in a crisis or over sensitive issues. In the ideal America that we aspire to, and that certainly our founders aspired to, we allow ourselves to feel but not act on fear, uncertainty and discomfort. We help each other through it with respectful dialog and respect for each others’ rights and freedoms. In that America we do not brandish placards with hateful words aimed at the innocent. Instead, we say to our enemies: “you will not take our commitment to democracy, our freedom and our respect for each individual to live his or her life in safety and in a manner of his or her choosing regardless of his or her race, religion or orientation. We will not punish the innocent many for the acts of an intolerant few with our own intolerance. We will not veer from our founding ideals and we will not be brought to bend to your level of hate and cowardice.” 

The America I grew up believing in would have a very different response to the proposed Islamic Cultural Center and to Muslim Americans. That America would, at least figuratively, put a mosque at one cornerstone of ‘ground zero’ and a synagogue, temple and ashram on each of the other three, respectively. In other words, a finger in the eye of those that would threaten, terrorize or mock us. That America would celebrate and respect diversity and uphold freedom equally.

Those of us who have not succumbed to fear and hate are the majority.  We embrace the opportunity to extend to others the same freedom we enjoy.  We believe in the vision of America put forth by our founders.  It’s our responsibility to defend that vision and stand with those individuals who are the scapegoats of fear. It’s time to over-shout the voices that would destroy our democracy.
 ©2010 Dawn Murphy

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