From the issue dated September 28, 2001
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Can We Restore America's Historical Role?By AZIZAH AL-HIBRI
I was heartened by the fact that the president is not speaking about lashing out in anger. We need to be better than those we are upset with, and if some people do evil deeds that take lives, we need to give a reasoned response, a deliberate response, which will be fair and just. And he assured us that he will not be acting in anger, but he will be acting thoughtfully. I think the ultimate goal is to bring a just and stable peace to the world, so that the Americans and people of other nations can live a decent life. And the life of terrorism is not a decent life. What I really like about this president is that he goes beyond the headlines. He does understand that there are people who hate America. I don't know, from the conversation, how much thought he's given to why they hate us. I told him that to put this in context, we need to understand that when people's lives have been devalued, they tend to devalue other people's lives, and so we need to really think about the devaluing of human life in general, as a way of understanding what is happening and putting an end to it. And he also very accurately pointed out that the devaluation of human life is not just a problem with the terrorists, it's generally a problem even domestically, with crime. It looks like this president is going to supply the kind of leadership this country needs. He came to listen to us and to support us in our civil rights. One cannot say we're optimistic, because simply the situation is so horrible, but at least I feel that our leader is a firm and rational and sensitive leader, and I hope he'll do the right thing. Everybody in the meeting came out with the same impression. What we've seen is not an Arab issue, it's not an Islamic issue, it's a third-world issue. It's all these countries, which have conflicts, which are being suppressed, and they are exploding, one way or the other. When we see things happening, we should think in terms of how do we advance freedom around the world so that this will not happen to us. We cannot say we are going to be nice to a regime that violates human rights, because we have an economic interest in that country. What this shows is that we have to understand our interests, and define them more broadly. I think we need to figure out, how can America grab again the mission it was given by people like Jefferson and Wilson and others, so that it is a leader in democracy and hope around the world. That's what we need to be thinking about instead of thinking ethnicity, instead of thinking religion, instead of thinking retribution, instead of thinking fear. We should look at this as a wake-up call for America to grab back its historical role in the world. Azizah al-Hibri is a professor of law at the University of Richmond. http://chronicle.com Section: The Chronicle Review Page: B5
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Copyright © 2001 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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Reflections on the Fractured Landscape |
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