A Letter To The Unknown Perpetrator Of The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack Against The United States.

Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 By Leonard Pitts Jr. Syndicated columnist - Miami Herald

They pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and cultural issues, to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering. You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed. Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, cultural, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae, a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God. Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of its ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, indeed, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice. I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future. In days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined. You see, there is steel beneath this velvet. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish. Still, I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach us. It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're about. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn.

 

 Monday vs Tuesday

On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools.

 On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying.

 On Monday there were people who were trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed.

On Tuesday they were all holding hands.

On Monday we thought that we were secure.

On Tuesday  we learned better.

 On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes.

On Tuesday  we relearned what hero meant

On Monday people went to work at the world trade centers as usual

 On Tuesday they died.

On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property.

On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking' Thou shall not kill'.

 On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room.

On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids.

On Monday people picked up McDonalds for dinner.

On Tuesday they stayed home.

 On Monday people were upset that their dry cleaning was not ready on time.

On Tuesday they were lining up to give blood for the dying

On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses.

On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America'.

 On Monday we worried about the traffic and getting to work late

On Tuesday we worried about a plane crashing into your house or place of business

On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived.

On Tuesday we saw people celebrating people dying in the USA.

 On Monday some children had solid families.

On Tuesday they were orphans.

 On Monday the president was going to Florida to read to children.

On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children

On Monday we emailed jokes.

On Tuesday we did not It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will pass away.

 On Monday - pray and be thankful.

On Tuesday - pray and be thankful.

 On Wednesday - pray and be thankful

On Thursday - pray and be thankful.

 On Friday - pray and be thankful

On Saturday - pray and be thankful.

 On Sunday - pray and be thankful

Author Unknown