September
14, 2001
Dear
Member of the Barnard Community,
The
deadly terrorist attacks on Tuesday, September
11 have shaken all of us, provoking a mixture
of sadness, fear, and anger.
The attacks were driven by fanaticism and hatred.
Ironically, they have created the opposite -
not hatred, but a sense of shared purpose and
a willingness to help each other. In London,
the Star Spangled Banner was heard for the first
time in Saint Paul's Cathedral. Expressions
of solidarity have come from Russia and across
the Middle East. We have no better example than
the selfless work of firefighters, police officers
and other rescue workers to rescue the victims
of the tragedy. And we see it in the quick efforts
by members of our own community -- students,
faculty and staff -- to donate blood and raise
funds for the victims.
Sadly, though, some have reacted to this tragedy
by taking out their anger on others who are
different from them. In Detroit, an Arab-American
newspaper has received many anonymous threats
from residents. And here on Morningside Heights,
we have received reports that some of our Muslim,
Arab and Arab-American students may have been
harassed -- as if nationality, dress or skin
color has anything at all to do with what happened
on Tuesday. We must collectively, and strongly,
reject any such behavior.
This
is a time for us to come together, to reach
out and draw strength from each other, and to
affirm our common humanity. As Americans, our
strength derives from the fact that our nation
is built around a set of ideals -- including
tolerance and liberty -- and not around a single
ethnic group or race. When anyone in our community
gives in to prejudice, all of us are weakened
and terrorism's goal -- disrupting our sense
of who we are -- is strengthened. As we move
over the coming weeks to better understand what
happened, how it happened, why it happened,
and how to prevent future incidents, I hope
that all of us can be inspired by the good that
this tragedy has revealed. It is the basis from
which we can, together, move forward.
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Sincerely,
Judith
Shapiro
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