September 11 and beyond

We believe that the current crisis should evoke patriotism and support for the United States from all Americans. Our country has been attacked by an enemy who has vowed to kill Americans whenever and wherever he can until he gets what he wants. He is principally concerned with political arrangements in the Middle East, and his premise is that American resolve must be shattered by the indiscriminate murder of American citizens in order for him to prevail. The evil nature and massive scope of the Sept. 11 attack demonstrate that Osama bin Laden and his network of terrorists are serious about their intentions.

As Americans, we believe that we should match that seriousness in defense of our nation and its democratic traditions. We say this consciously as Black people whose entire adult lives have been devoted to the struggle to eradicate racial injustice from our society.and whose roots in the NAACP are deep and strong. We are acutely aware of two overwhelming facts about the fight for racial justice. First, our struggle has changed this country in ways that were unimaginable 60 years ago when a thoroughly segregated America entered World War II. Second, the goal of a truly just country is still so painfully far out of reach that literally millions of Black lives are disintegrating this very minute under the weight of discrimination, cruel and incompetent institutions and greedy and racist indifference to suffering.

Some Black Americans, fastening on current and historic injustices, are reluctant to give wholehearted support to the fight against terrorism. The roots of this reluctance range from the overly broad application by some whites of the term terrorist (even to such Black heroes as Nelson Mandela) to deep skepticism about the Bush administration.

While we understand these misgivings and, in fact, share some of them, we respectfully disagree with the conclusion that there should be reluctance about general support of the war aims of the nation. The misapplication of the epithet terrorist is an easy argument to refute. People who crash airplanes into buildings filled with innocent people are terrorists, period. To put them in the same category with Mandela is, to put it most kindly, profoundly foolish.

There is certainly reason to be skeptical about the Bush administration's foreign policy, notably - for our interest - its refusal to become fully engaged in the U.N. Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. But patriotism and support of our war aims does not require unquestioning support of all administration policies, including war policies. Thoughtful dissent, particularly when the blood is running hot, is one of the highest orders of patriotism. Moreover, dissent is central to our tradition of building a better America. Principled dissent helped end slavery, and segregation and is still propelling our struggle.

The impulse to pull back and hurl criticism from outside rather than to participate fully as citizens within the national community cedes far too much. The massive contributions of the enslaved ancestors of so many of us have surely given us our own share of ownership of this nation. It is our shared future we should be shaping, not just their bad history we are decrying.

Arguing with our country to increase its moral clarity while simultaneously supporting it in wartime just as we have in the past is as American as.. well, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Bin Laden and his associates want to destroy all those structures, all the history we have made using them and the better futures we firmly intend to build. We believe fervently that he must not be allowed to do so.

And, lest we forget, we should remark that there was absolutely nothing segregated about Ground Zero, the Pentagon destruction site or that remote field in Pennsylvania.

Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP Board of Directors

Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO, NAACP

Roger Wilkins, Publisher, The Crisis

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Nov/Dec 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved