Letter
to the editor
Thanks Uncle Sammy!
War,
war, what is it good for? Well, if you are
minority (particularly black and Latino),
war provides an opportunity to show your
“patriotism” and “allegiance” to “your”
country. There can be no grander task than
to put your relegated life on hold to be
shipped thousands of miles to “liberate”
others, while, back “home,” your people
toil and beg for a piece and peace.
I do not put any blame on you, because after
all, you have been told that you are protecting
our way of life and that you are risking
your lives for our freedom. After “liberating”
Iraqis, perhaps minority soldiers will come
home to find that their mailboxes are over
stuffed with acceptance letters from every
university, that their schools are no longer
laced with military recruiters or that somehow
the police no longer care if they are driving
the latest Benz. If they survive, perhaps
they will be told that somehow by killing
others in the name of “liberation”, they
have become more American and liberated
themselves.
I am continuously haunted by that gruesome
thing called her/history. History mentions
that African-Americans have given their
lives since the Revolution (American) despite
having been deprived of all human rights;
how Japanese-Americans fought while their
people were being interned; how Latino-Americans
are the most decorated soldiers in military
history, despite being exploited for decades;
and how Native Americans, after being brutally
massacred and betrayed still gave their
lives, to protect “the American way of life.”
It has been a way of life that historically
and presently excludes: indigenous people,
people of color, working class and poor
people. Thanks but no thanks, Uncle Sammy.
If you want to give us something, give us
our loved ones back, pull the troops back,
and if I ever risk my life for anything,
it will never be in your name.
—
D. Tran
sociology major
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