The following is a message from SAFE Officer Catherine Johnson, who serves the neighborhoods of Stevens Square-Loring Heights and Whittier. She gave me permission to forward it to the list. ----------------------------------------------------------- Like the rest of the country, we here in Minneapolis have experienced the shock, the fear, the uncertainty, and the profound greif prompted by the events of Tuesday September 11, 2001. As a police officer I have prayed for my brothers and sisters in blue who remain among the missing, for the fire fighters lost beneath the rubble, and for the thousands of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters who lost their lives that day. I have experienced the anger as well, and that's why I am writing to you today. I wanted to remind all of you that those residents of our neighborhoods who are Muslim share in the horror of Tuesday's events. They too are our American brothers and sisters. They were our neighbors and friends when we went to sleep on Monday night and the events of Tuesday morning did not change that. They are still our neighbors and friends today. We cannot unleash our anger on them. We cannot see in them a target for attack. We must continue to show them the same treatment they recieved from us before the events of Tuesday morning. Our fears and sadness and anger are theirs as well, but they must also have a fear all their own, a fear of how they will now be perceived and treated. Let us show them that we will not be ruled by fear and anger, but instead by compassion. I heard a quote on the radio today about the individuals who committed these terrible acts of violence. "They are terrorists, not Muslims." Let us not forget that. We must continue to frequent the businesses in our communities that are owned and operated by our Muslim neighbors. We must continue to welcome our Muslim friends into our communities and to our neighborhood gatherings. We must support them as we support the rest of our community. We are still a land of many cultures, a land founded on idealistic principles that has always tried to welcome any who come to her shores. That's what we do here in American and here in Minnesota. Should we choose to forget who we are as Americans, the terrorists win. They shall not win. Officer Catherine Johnson Minneapolis Police Department 5th Precinct CCP/SAFE Unit (612) 673-2790 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------- Dave Delvoye Fulton neighborhood 13th Ward [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
