Just when some people were getting back to normal and starting to feel safe again, we got a close-to-home reminder that our troubles with terrorism might be far from over and might have connections to our own community.
News that at least one of four men arrested by FBI agents Wednesday on suspicion of illegally getting hazardous materials licenses lived in Everett until this summer is disturbing. Even if the license questions end up having nothing to do with terrorism, the news reminds us that we aren’t immune from horrific tragedy, either. Those terrorist cells and "sleepers" we’ve been hearing about the past two weeks aren’t the stuff of action and conspiracy theory movies.
And yet, with that knowledge we are responsible, more than ever, to resist the temptation to lash out at fellow Americans of Middle Eastern descent. If there’s any good in Wednesday’s news, perhaps it is that we all got a reminder to avoid yielding to a false sense of security. Now we must avoid giving in to the other extreme of allowing heightened awareness to turn into paranoia or uncontrolled anger.
It’s going to be difficult for many of us to see Arab-American men and not think of the terrorist attacks and subsequent arrests. It’s foolish to deny this. We might be ashamed of ourselves for feeling this way, but we’re all facing a new world and it’s going to take adjustment. What we need to realize is that Middle Easterners who call America home are looking at the rest of us the same way. They’re wondering who we really are and what our motives are. Is it safe for them to live in our neighborhood or apartment complex? Will their children be taunted and tortured at our schools? Can Middle Eastern women wear their traditional garb or will they be called names and spat upon in public?
The same day the FBI made the arrests in our state, a federal grand jury issued hate-crime charges against a Snohomish man who allegedly poured gasoline on a man’s car at a Northgate mosque and fired at two people there. Such actions should be as frightening to us as the news that an FBI suspect lived here.
"Normal" is going to mean something else from now on. It won’t mean "the way things were." Normal will probably mean living our everyday lives with an increased sense of awareness and security. It may mean taking precautions we never thought we’d have to consider. It might even include more tragedy. But hurting innocent, law-abiding neighbors with nasty language or physical attacks should never be considered normal in our new world.
We are going through a phase where the investigations will lead to many arrests, some that turn out to be mistaken and others that head off real trouble. But it’s important to remember that beyond the potential for trouble — which exists in every society, from its own members and outsiders — there is real strength in America’s diversity and neighborliness. Our commitment to freedom and treating all people as individuals will serve us well as a bulwark against intolerance, even at a time when normal isn’t what it used to be.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
