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I think this is a really powerful and poignant statement. Hat's off to
Mr.
Pitts.
Subject: What is the meaning of the attack?
> BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
>
> 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.
>
> We are a family
>
> Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and
> quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, cultural,
> political
> and class division. We're frivolous, yes.
>
> 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. And we are, the
> overwhelming majority of us, people of faith,
> believers in a just
> and loving God.
>
> Perhaps you think that any or all of this makes us
> weak. We are not weak.
>
> Yes, we're in pain now. 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.
>
> 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. 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 in
> the pursuit of justice.
>
> Sad, but determined
>
> 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.
>
> 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. 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.
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