Wednesday, October 10, 2001
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Wednesday, October 10, 2001 |
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Letter telling immigrants to conform to U.S. culture provokes outrage Every community has its Jekyll and Hyde . . . This is a response to Mr. Hyde's letter to the editor. To all the naturalized Americans and other foreigners visiting, studying, or working in the U.S., I would like to apologize for Mr. Hyde's bigoted letter. He does not speak for the majority of Americans. He represents the small and closed-minded, the ignorant, and the scared Americans that are threatened by anything other than hot dogs, hamburgers, and vanilla ice cream. What is an "American," Mr. Hyde? Is it someone who can only speak English, wears jeans and golf shirts, and is a WASP? Americans are black, white, brown, yellow, red, and myriad of other hues. They wear saris, robes, gowns, jeans, suits, and other forms of attire. They speak every language on the planet. They are Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, just to name a few. Americans are even people like you Mr. Hyde yes, we even accept your type. The terrorist attack against our country has brought people with differing origins together for dialog. They include nations uniting to fight terrorism to students reaching out to other youths across the world. It is amazing that while our government is forming a coalition with other countries (including Muslim countries) to fight this worst form of hatred and intolerance, you choose to display similar qualities. While in one paragraph you say that you welcome Muslims to this country, in another you say you can't stand their headdress or flowing wraps and want to "choke them for speaking gibberish in your grocery store." That "gibberish" they're speaking is called "language" and people from outside the U.S. can usually speak more than one, even the ones from England. In today's global economy, being multilingual is considered an asset. If they aren't speaking to you in the grocery store, what does it matter what language they're using? Are you that paranoid to think that you're the topic of discussion? I guess you mean that Muslims are OK if they're neither seen nor heard. When you tell the Muslims to "praise their God as well as our God" shows even more ignorance. Christians and Muslims worship the same God, while one follows the teachings of Christ, the other follows the teachings of Mohammed. While it goes without saying, please don't confuse Muslims with terrorists. One is not a prerequisite for the other. To do so would be the same as saying all fundamentalist Christians are members of the "Army of God." I appreciate the effects Sep. 11 has had on our nation, and I have seen how it has affected many of us. I can only hope that the letter you have written does not truly represent the real Mr. Hyde. P.S. to editor: I'm surprised that The Citizen would even publish such a divisive letter at this time of national crisis. Matthew L. Dunfee Fayetteville
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