After Sept. 11: Do you feel safer?
On the radio Sun. morning, the talk show host was asking people to call in to say if they felt safer. Of course, they took a variety of answers from their calls. I knew my answer: "NO!" I actually was thinking that I felt equally safe as I did Sept. 10, 2001 as the world overall hadn't really changed that much - I knew about terrorist attacks having lived in NYC & knew it had been hit once before. I also know I'm not safe because of terrorists who live in my country, like Timothy McVeigh, and a drug addict or untreated person with mental health problems could break-and-enter and do whatever. I also don't think the Patriot Act has made it safer, but it didn't occur to me it made it less safe.
The sermon my minister gave on Sun. was short and to the point. He felt the same way to some extent. You can hear it here or you can read it here later.
But now I'd have to say I feel less safe - from my own government & the people who do terrible things out of fear.
Then came the story, Some real Shock and Awe: Racially profiled and cuffed in Detroit - how brave she is to write such a detailed story - I would have been too upset to write it so well, I think. Yet, it was unlikely to happen to me as I'm white - they call it "white privilege" but it often feels embarrassing to be considered part of a group that does these things.
Then CBS runs a story, Among travelers on Sept. 11, unease and confidence which shows several other incidents. If you're scared of people who look like foreigners, don't travel! What shame I feel for our country! And yet today when I was substitute teaching, several whose parents weren't from this country, we taught the children about "Patriots Day" and how proud we should be of this country. I know the workers have to do what they do, but the government is being over-protective while not totally protecting us since a determined terrorist could still strike. If we have to have these laws, the people who report "suspicious behavior" should have to be held & searched, too, or all people on the plane. Racial profiling is just WRONG!
The terrorists are us. :_(
The sermon my minister gave on Sun. was short and to the point. He felt the same way to some extent. You can hear it here or you can read it here later.
But now I'd have to say I feel less safe - from my own government & the people who do terrible things out of fear.
Then came the story, Some real Shock and Awe: Racially profiled and cuffed in Detroit - how brave she is to write such a detailed story - I would have been too upset to write it so well, I think. Yet, it was unlikely to happen to me as I'm white - they call it "white privilege" but it often feels embarrassing to be considered part of a group that does these things.
Then CBS runs a story, Among travelers on Sept. 11, unease and confidence which shows several other incidents. If you're scared of people who look like foreigners, don't travel! What shame I feel for our country! And yet today when I was substitute teaching, several whose parents weren't from this country, we taught the children about "Patriots Day" and how proud we should be of this country. I know the workers have to do what they do, but the government is being over-protective while not totally protecting us since a determined terrorist could still strike. If we have to have these laws, the people who report "suspicious behavior" should have to be held & searched, too, or all people on the plane. Racial profiling is just WRONG!
The terrorists are us. :_(