Link to Archive of Weekly Issues Collaborative journal of shared notes

Dear Habermas Logo and Link to Site Index A Justice Site

Collaborative Writing Journal

Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP

Caliifornia State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: September 21, 2001
Latest Update: September 22, 2001
E-Mail jeannecurran@habermas.org
E-Mail takata@uwp.edu

Index of Shared Notes
from the Week of September 24, 2001 - Week 5

Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors: September 2001.
"Fair use" encouraged.

""
Journal entry by Cristina Beals, UWP

On Thursday, September 20, 2001, Cristina Beals wrote:

I just finished reading an article

jeanne's comments
Please identify the article. The site is very large. We need to know the URL so we can refer to what you've been reading.

For how to identify the URL,

about all the attacks on people of Middle-Eastern decent and I just wanted to say that there are some real arrogant people in the United States. I think it is terribly stupid to attack some one because of there ethnicity. What people don't realize is that not every Muslim or Arab person is a terrorist. There are many people of Arab decent in the United States and some of them are second and third generation American. There have always been terrorists in the United States and there always will be. There are many terrorist attempts every day in this country, but we are able to diffuse them before they happen, this time we weren't able to and a lot of innocent people died. And Americans feel like they have to do some thing for all the victims of the attacks in New York, but attacking our fellow Americans isn't going to accomplish any thing. It's just going to add to the victim lists.

Thank you for your time,
Christina Beals

"Anti-Arab-American Sentiment"
Journal entry by Omayra Rodriguez, UWP

On Friday, September 21, 2001, Omayra Rodriguez wrote:

From: Jesus Rodriguez
To: Susan Takata
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2001 9:09 PM
Subject: attack against Arab Americans

Takata,

I am writing to you because I just finished talking to Parksides' Chief of Police, and I am disgusted by what he told me. I had remembered reading the article you had forwarded to me and I asked him if such complaints had been made by Arabs in our school. He told me that already one person has withdrawn from UW-P and that other Arabs don't feel safe in our school. Not only are they being indirectly and directly harassed by students, but teachers are treating them differently. This is a scary thought! I understand that we are saddened by what has happened to America, but don't you think that many of the Arab Americans feel the same way, too?

Omayra

p.s. I am going to answer your e-mail, but I just want to take a little more time to do some research and gather my thoughts.

On Saturday, September 22, 2001, jeanne responded:

Omayra,

Your actions are those of a public intellectual, in Edward Said's sense of the term. You asked probing questions of your police chief. In doing so, you have called your local official's consciousness to the deeper concerns of a civil society: justice and legitimacy of our actions. And in sharing your actions and your feelings with the Dear Habermas community you are exhibiting the traits of a teaching intellectual.

I'm proud to meet you, and I'm thankful for a technology that permits us to know each other.

And please identify the article, so we could share it with others.

love and peace, jeanne

On Sunday, September 23, 2001, Omayra wrote:

Hi Jeanne,

It is nice to finally meet you through these e-mails. I just wanted to let you know that the article I read was one that Takata had forwarded to me titled: The Chronicle of Higher Education (for Thursday, September 20).

On Sunday, September 23, 2001, Susan sent the link to the Chronicle:

Here's the link to the article that Omayra read: After at Least 4 Assaults, Some Foreign Students Plan to Leave U.S.; More Protection Urged By Ron Southwick. The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 20, 2001.