Yes, I consider myself to be a true blue American. And this is from someone who was born and lived in NYC, then was hit with the blatant racism of the South after we moved. Even though I've experienced "the stare" (deep southerners know what we call it), being ignored in stores, being refused service as a teenager because southern clerks didn't think we knew our rights, racial profiling (yes, it happens to females to) ~ to the point of
cops being called and me & my friends being frisked (yep!) in a Hardees because they felt that we were "too loud", yet never bothered to tell us... I could go on & on ~ I am still proud to be an American. I
understand why some say have developed the attitudes that they have, but I don't agree.
I am now an adult & I still chose to live here. I have to remember, those that have violated me do not comprise all of America. They are just the ignorant part, and ignorance is found in every country. Should that effect our feelings about our citizenship? Personally no. It should enrage us enough to want to do something about it that will result in a positive change. I love being able to meet so many different people, from different cultures.
Did anyone catch the part of the President's speech where he mentioned that people in Afghanistan could be
jailed for owning a TV? We do an awful lot of complaining (and usually, justifiably so), but we are still
alive. Can many of our ancestors say the same? They fought this battle, and now, we can sit here on the internet and debate it without being hung from trees. Did anyone
read Z Chi's post about the Afghanistanian widows that are buried alive? Thank God I was born in this country,
in this day & age.
Refusing to show patriotism will not change anything, refusing to fight will not change anything. All of these things will only further separate us, which at this time, is definately not needed.
We lost people also. Do we really think that African Americans that were on those planes were debating their loyalty to America, or if the terrorists noticed the difference? In the end, what good does further separating ourselves do? If there are further attacks, do we
really think terrorists will discriminate in who they kill, or will they simply seek to harm
Americans?
If they bomb one of our predominately black neighborhoods, will we debate our citizenship then? 