In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, many people across the nation have been buying and displaying American flags and other patriotic symbols. Some have asked why it takes a national tragedy of this magnitude to bring out such a display, and wondered if there might not be some element of hypocrisy on the part of those so recently showing the flag. But I think that questions of that sort are missing an important point.
Respect, admiration, and love of this country and the principles on which it was founded are sentiments that many people hold on a level so deep that they do not often express them out loud, or even consciously think of them. Nevertheless, such feelings are no less sincere.
In the past several years, this country has encountered a number of significant crises that have brought out deep sentiments about who we are and how we live as a nation. A presidential impeachment and a contested election prompted many Americans to express their differences of opinion. Now a terrorist attack has brought us to display our unity. Strange as it may seem, both types of events serve to strengthen this country in the long run.
It is the fundamental principles of the United States -- the right of free expression and the rule of law -- that allow us to endure divisive crises in our country and to resolve them peacefully. If every American were not confident of their right to hold and express their beliefs, then they would certainly not feel the underlying faith in this country that has brought us together in the face of an outside threat. That is the great paradox of America, which has kept this country strong and free for longer than any other constitutional government in human history. Through our freedom to express our differences, we find our ultimate unity.
Several years ago, I worked at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Although it stands in the heart of New York's financial district, the people who worked there were as broad a sampling of America, and indeed the world, as one could ask for. There were multimillionaire executives and traders, middle-class clerks and technicians, and blue-collar laborers. Some of the people there were born and raised in places as close as Chinatown, Staten Island, or Jersey City; others were from as far away as Colombia, Russia, or Nigeria. There were men and women of every race, ethnic group, and religion. Some were native born, some were immigrants seeking citizenship, and some were foreign visitors. All of the vast spectrum of American and human diversity was represented at the World Trade Center, and all were present when the terrorists destroyed the Center on September 11.
The enemies of America did not discriminate. The people who died at the World Trade Center were not attacked because of their social class, beliefs, or skin color. They were attacked because they lived in the society that encourages and thrives upon such diversity, and here I speak not only of American society, but of Western civilization.
Just as the World Trade Center stood as a symbol of America, so America stands as a symbol of the greater society whose goal is to enable all people to live their lives in the fullest, most free and fulfilling manner. Whatever the ultimate human potential may be, it can only be reached if all people are confident in their right to individual beliefs and expressions, and in their protection under a lawful system of justice. Those enemies of our society, who seek to change our opinions and behavior through violence, will in the end come to defeat at the hands of those who cherish their freedom and will give all they have to protect it.
Adolf Hitler, the greatest enemy of civilization in the twentieth century, once said that terror and force would win the quickest victory over reason. But just as Hitler and other would-be destroyers of freedom were defeated, so the enemies of the free world in the twenty-first century will find their efforts to be futile. History has proven, time and again, that violence and terror can prevail only in the short run. Freedom will triumph, in the end, not because of armies or governments, but because it is held so deeply and dearly in the hearts and minds of those who experience it.
-James Kasprzak
New Providence, NJ
September 13, 2001
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