From the Editors

During this time of tragedy, the United States seems to be more true to its name than ever; most citizens are uniting in a patriotic outpouring.

While I was driving home to Gwinnett County this weekend, I saw more flags outside of houses and on cars than I have ever seen on a 4th of July holiday. We keep hearing stories on the news about people in New York taking food to the rescue workers. People are lining up to donate blood and give monetary donations to the American Red Cross. Firefighters are standing at intersections to take donations for their counterparts in New York. I have never seen so many people actually give donations at those intersections.

Historians say that American behavior is like a pendulum swinging on a clock. One side is when society is at its worst – people destroying communities and themselves. The other side is peace and harmony – citizens working together and having compassion for mankind. I believe that the pendulum has been swinging in the negative direction for a long time. We have seen an increase of violence in movies, as well as in the world around us. We haven’t had many positive actions to look up to and learn from. This tragedy, hopefully, will change all of that.

For the first time, a lot of young adults are experiencing patriotism. We are seeing for ourselves the United States government in action. We are learning to trust the decisions of our lawmakers. We are seeing the outpouring of love and compassion for humanity. A lot of people are wearing red, white and blue ribbons over their hearts, which are breaking for the people lost in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania. I believe that all of these events will give Americans the sense of pride that we need for the pendulum to swing in the positive direction.

I have asked myself, after all of this death and destruction, who would want to harm their homeland any more? Sadly enough, there are some sick people out there who are calling in bomb threats all over the country. There were 90 threats in New York City alone on Friday. Airports, malls, offices and other buildings were evacuated with high anxiety because of the inhumane actions of these absurd people.

A tire store was burnt to the ground because its owner is Pakistani. The hateful soul that caused grief was so unintelligent that he or she didn’t even know whom they were attaching. No more attacks need to be made in the United States. The government knows what needs to be done and is in the process of doing it. Citizens here shouldn’t judge anyone by their nationality, race, religion or anything else. We are Americans, and the terrorists will show themselves soon enough.

Our patriotism is at the highest level that our generation has ever seen,and with that patriotism, I have heard people say that if we go to war they will volunteer to go. Who knows if this war is going to go so far that volunteers will be needed. We all know that the reserves have been called in and are prepared for action. Is that enough? President Bush says that the American people will know what is happening when the time is right. I couldn’t agree with that decision more, because the public has a tendency to blow things way out of proportion, but should we be doing anything to prepare? Are the people that are willing to volunteer for their country going to be needed? I pray not.

There are so many mixed emotions about this war that we are in. I encourage you to write to The Colonnade to express yourself. I know that this is a time of hurt, anger and sadness, along with the patriotism that we feel, and writing is one of the best ways to express your feelings.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 21 2001. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry