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What is an American?
You probably missed it in the rush of news
last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward
to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian
dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one:
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.
An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or
Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole
or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could
be Jewish, or
Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in
America than in Afghanistan. The
only difference is that in
America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also
free to believe in no religion. For that
he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to
armed
thugs claiming to speak for the government and for
God.
An American is from the
most prosperous land in the
history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be
found in the Declaration
of Independence, which recognizes
the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just
about every other nation in the world in their time of need.
When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years
ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the
people to win back their country. As of the morning of
September 11, Americans had given more than any other
nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best
books,
the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But
they also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,
welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of
your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These
in fact are the people who built America. Some of them
were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September
11, 2002, earning a better life for their families. I've
been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages,
including
those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if
you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history
of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans
are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone
who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
(Rec.
by TOM WRIGHT and AN BUI)
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