|
submit
articles |
| What is a American? Associate Professor of Law George Mason University School of Law. 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. An American 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. "Pass this around the world" Source: This was published in National Review magazine shortly after the 9-11 attack in September, 2001. |