Thursday, 13 September 2001
.....
"The most visible symbol in New York is the spirit of a free people."
--Mayor Giuliani
I must echo Joan Walsh's tribute to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani: He's been amazing. New York has been amazing. Except, alas, for Senator Clinton, which really breaks my heart. I'm no fan of Pataki or Giuliani, but they, espeically Giuliani, have been astonishing graceful at a time when the devastation must touch them in a deeply personal, as well as official, way.
High on the list of graceful, honorable actions by Mayor Giuliani has been his calls against anti-Arab racism, from day one:
"Hatred, prejudice and anger is what caused this," the mayor said this evening. "We should act bravely and in a tolerant way." -- Washington Post, Sept 11, 2001
Finally, in a phone conversation with Giuliani and George Pataki, President Bush speaks out:
And as we do so, I urge -- I know I don't need to tell you all this, but our nation must be mindful that there are thousands of Arab Americans who live in New York City who love their flag just as much as the three of us do. And we must be mindful that as we seek to win the war that we treat Arab Americans and Muslims with the respect they deserve. I know that is your attitudes, as well; it's certainly the attitude of this government, that we should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of terror. We will hold those who are responsible for the terrorist acts accountable, and those who harbor them.
It's something; graceless, late, and inadequate (what about Arabs period? what about Arab Americans not in New York City?), but something.
Surreal note: The whitehouse.gov transcript had systematically mispelled Giuliani's name as "Guiliani". As I publish this, they've fixed some, but not all of those.
This is Bush Speaks Out (a little) Against Anti-Arab Racism <http://monkeyfist.com/articles/778>