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Feeding the American War Machine

misguided responses to terrorism in the U.S.

Forum: aplb (Asian and Pacific Islander lesbian and bisexual women)
Date: 09/14/2001

On 01.9.14 5:19 PM, "Mia H H Lam" wrote:

To show those terrorists that we Americans stick together, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14 is "Flags Across America." All Americans are asked to display the American flag either in their homes or cars. Let's keep the meaning of UNITED in "United States". Pass this onto as many people as you know. THANK YOU.

Mia - I've been biting my tongue and trying to be patient for the last few days, but my patience is running out as I've received email after email from you that *uncritically* boast American patriotism, which I think is a misguided response to the tragedy that will only feed racism, xenophobia and the American war machine.

When Southerners fly the confederate flag to show their pride in their heritage, liberals from all over the country denounce it as a symbol of racism and slavery; as far as I'm concerned, the historical weight of racism and other oppressions that the stars and stripes represents is not much better than that of the confederate flag.

My eyes are burning from seeing more than healthy amount of the U.S. flags already this week, including many people covered in those horrendous red, white and blue fashion. It's been a remarkable learning experience, though, as I'm finally coming to understand why and how Japanese Americans ended up in the internment camp fifty-some years ago. So anyway, please save your flags for the next Olympic games or something.

Emigrl

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