March 21, 2000
In my house, my mother taught us about freedom. She taught us to love God, ourselves, our family, and our country. She taught us to see God in ourselves and in all people. New York City played a role in this education if for no other reason than when she told me about the Statue of Liberty. Ms. Liberty standing straight and true holding forth the torch of freedom that lights the way to our shores for the huddling masses, to the land of economic opportunity and human equality.
The world has seen New York as a place of great promise. Many of us, or our ancestors first set foot in the United States in or around New York City. This small region of America has given hope to millions, and many have found their dream to be true, while others are still looking for the fulfillment of the promise.
In my eyes, Lady Liberty has always been a symbol of freedom. She represents for me a life journey to the reality of individual liberty and equality as a person and as a people for all.
I am disappointed. Disappointed because it seems that many have forgotten what freedom means and could care less about the principals which the woman standing in the bay champions. Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, and Patrick Dorismond are not just faceless black people living in a in a far off land. They are citizens and our guest living in your city. The people who shot Amadou and Patrick, and who brutalized Abner, were not soldiers in Saigon, or revolutionaries in Tehran, nor extremist in Beirut. They were police officers sworn to protect and serve.
Do we want to compromise our safety? Of course not. The citizens who live in high crime areas are more concerned with adequate police protection than most of us could comprehend. But when citizen safety is compromised by the actions of the government, we should demand evaluation of training and policy. We, as citizens, should demand that leaders take responsibility, and leaders should do so to uphold the honor of their offices.
What can you do as an individual? I only ask that you look in your heart and ask yourself, what if that had been my friend, relative, son or daughter killed by the police? How would I react? What if that had been my neighborhood? How would I react? If your answer is, “that could never happen to me,” then you have forgotten a fundamental truth about government: an action against one citizen is an action against all citizens. If the government can get away with doing it to one, it can do it to all.
This country that I love so dearly has historically used the concept of race to divide its citizenry. We have come a long way in bridging this division. Every day people begin to discover the common ground that we all stand on. The nation watches as New York City searches for this common ground to make sense of the treatment of Abner Louima, and deaths of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond. You have an opportunity to demonstrate that we are closer to making the dream of equality true for all and not just a chosen few. Do not sit idle.
May peace be with you.
March 21, 2000
In my house, my mother taught us about freedom. She taught us to love God, ourselves, our family, and our country. She taught us to see God in ourselves and in all people. New York City played a role in this education if for no other reason than when she told me about the Statue of Liberty. Ms. Liberty standing straight and true holding forth the torch of freedom that lights the way to our shores for the huddling masses, to the land of economic opportunity and human equality.
The world has seen New York as a place of great promise. Many of us, or our ancestors first set foot in the United States in or around New York City. This small region of America has given hope to millions, and many have found their dream to be true, while others are still looking for the fulfillment of the promise.
In my eyes, Lady Liberty has always been a symbol of freedom. She represents for me a life journey to the reality of individual liberty and equality as a person and as a people for all.
I am disappointed. Disappointed because it seems that many have forgotten what freedom means and could care less about the principals which the woman standing in the bay champions. Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, and Patrick Dorismond are not just faceless black people living in a in a far off land. They are citizens and our guest living in your city. The people who shot Amadou and Patrick, and who brutalized Abner, were not soldiers in Saigon, or revolutionaries in Tehran, nor extremist in Beirut. They were police officers sworn to protect and serve.
Do we want to compromise our safety? Of course not. The citizens who live in high crime areas are more concerned with adequate police protection than most of us could comprehend. But when citizen safety is compromised by the actions of the government, we should demand evaluation of training and policy. We, as citizens, should demand that leaders take responsibility, and leaders should do so to uphold the honor of their offices.
What can you do as an individual? I only ask that you look in your heart and ask yourself, what if that had been my friend, relative, son or daughter killed by the police? How would I react? What if that had been my neighborhood? How would I react? If your answer is, “that could never happen to me,” then you have forgotten a fundamental truth about government: an action against one citizen is an action against all citizens. If the government can get away with doing it to one, it can do it to all.
This country that I love so dearly has historically used the concept of race to divide its citizenry. We have come a long way in bridging this division. Every day people begin to discover the common ground that we all stand on. The nation watches as New York City searches for this common ground to make sense of the treatment of Abner Louima, and deaths of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond. You have an opportunity to demonstrate that we are closer to making the dream of equality true for all and not just a chosen few. Do not sit idle.
May peace be with you.
