Truth, justice, and the American way

Figures of Soviet soldiers at the base of a Soviet Army monument transformed into superheroes in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?”
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” —Benjamin Franklin (attributed)

On this thirteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States — on United Airlines Flight 93, the World Trade Center in New York City, and The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. — we remember those who were murdered by those who hated America. We should also understand that there are still those with a deadly hatred for this country and all for which it stands (see the documentary America: Imagine a World Without Her, and its companion book by Dinesh D'Souza).

But we should also remind ourselves that there are so many of us in the United States and around the world who still believe in and want to preserve all that is good about the U.S.A.

This startling and oddly reassuring image showed up recently in a newsfeed from, of all places, the Moscow Times. I tweeted it almost right away.

Bulgarians believe in American exceptionalism, even if Obama does not. http://t.co/zYabbFiHzK #tcot pic.twitter.com/iSyORc9bDm
— Matt Abe (@mattabe) September 4, 2014

President Obama said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” With all due respect, Mr. President, if every country is exceptional, no country is exceptional. Perhaps that was your point.

That Bulgarian graffiti artists would transform a Soviet military monument into a monument to American superheroes (and Santa Claus and is that Ronald McDonald??) is remarkable on multiple levels. People from other countries often understand American exceptionalism better than U.S. citizens who take their country's freedoms and opportunities for granted.

Photograph by Dorothea Lange, Oakland, California, 3/13/42, for the War Relocation Authority. University of California collection.

Japanese Americans of my parents' generation who happened to live on the West Coast in 1942 suffered terrible racism and were unjustly incarcerated in camps for years. It was illegal for those born in Japan and other Asian nations to become naturalized U.S. citizens until 1952. Yet many of them enlisted in the U.S. military, fought with valor, and remained in the U.S. to help raise the Baby Boom generation.

Why? Around the turn of the twentieth century, their parents immigrated to this country, with no hope for a better future in Japan, many homeless, rising to the middle class in a generation. They believed in American ideals, some dying on the battlefield defending those ideals, even when America sometimes did not live up to them. In short, they were Americans.

Family friends of ours fled Castro's Cuba during the 1960s. They often wonder what would happen if the United States fundamentally changes from its founding principles of freedom. “Where would we go?” they ask.

Fly the flag, petition the government with your grievances, thank a military veteran, say the Pledge of Allegiance, write a letter to the editor, teach your children why they should know the Constitution. Their future, and our country's future, depends on it. It's our country — if we can keep it.

Ten years later, a new hope

Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1942

Most every day, but especially on September 11, we remember the attacks on the United States and the horrific loss of life and property that occurred in 2001. Even ten years later, many wonder whether we will ever be safe against Islamic extremism.

A letter to the editor in Saturday's Star Tribune from a Muslim American gave me hope. I found it remarkably similar to the feelings and frustrations expressed by other American immigrant groups. The path to peace from the pain of 9/11 is a uniquely American one, and it is one we have traveled before. In this case, I am encouraged that it is a path that many Muslim Americans have already begun.

Seventy years ago, in the face of virulent racism, stereotypes, bigotry, and worse, Japanese Americans set out to prove to their neighbors and their country that being an American is not a matter of race, it's a matter of allegiance to the Constitution and American values like hard work, helping each other, and playing by the rules. Dorothea Lange's photo of a store on December 8, 1941, is iconic. The owner, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, was subsequently sent to an internment camp along with 110,000 other West Coast Japanese aliens and "non-aliens" (a clever euphemism for United States citizens).

A large group of American Muslims are quietly and individually living the American way of life, while unapologetically retaining the core tenets of their faith. Many of them are your neighbors. A letter to the Plymouth Sun Sailor put it succinctly (excerpt):

Recent letters lay out a false claim that Muslims are anti-American. This is absolutely false. I am a moderate, peace-loving Muslim and a patriot.

Yes, Muslim fanatics exist. But is it not true there are Christian fanatics? The IRA, for example. Is it not also true that there are white fanatics? The KKK, for example.

All are not fanatics.

These authors depicted a violent religion. Islam is Arabic for peace. Islam is a monotheistic religion like Christianity. Yes, Islam has faults. But are there not also faults in Judaism and Christianity? Indeed, in all religions?

All religions have faults because man has faults.

There is no White America and Black America There is no Christian America and Muslim America. There is only the United States of America.

Nick Ahamed
Plymouth

The writer of this letter is a recent graduate of Wayzata High School in Plymouth. He was one of the Boy Scouts in my troop (in which I am one of the Assistant Scoutmasters) who ultimately earned the rank of Eagle Scout. His family is a longtime, productive member of the community.

Perhaps not all Muslim Americans have earned your trust — how many strangers of any faith or race have? — but don't most at least deserve the benefit of the doubt? As more American Muslims speak out publicly and demonstrate their love for our country, I am encouraged that peace and prosperity can be achieved by like-minded individuals, one person at a time.