Every year, in remembrance of that horrible day, I post this letter written by L. Pitts the next morning. I always cry when I read it, it touched me very deeply: Subject: A Piece by L. Pitts I received this on September 17, 2001. It was written by L. Pitts addressed to terrorists on Wednesday, September 12, 8:40 am 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 cowards attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, know that you failed. Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned it. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, cultural, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. Were frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singers revealing dress, a ball teams misfortune, a cartoon mouse. Were 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. We struggle to know the right thing to do and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God. Some people -- you perhaps-- think that any or all of this makes us weak. Youre mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. Yes, were in pain now. We are are in mourning, and we are in shock. Were still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isnt a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isnt the plot of a Tom Clancy novel. 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. Youve bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But theres a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. 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, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice. I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you do not. What I know reassures me. it also causes me to tremble with dread for the future. 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. Well go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined. There is steel beneath this velvet. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by those who dont know us well. On this day, the familys 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. It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If thats the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You dont know my people. You dont know what were about. You dont know what you just started. But youre about to learn.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:34:40 +0000