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November 30, 2001/Kislev 15, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 12
Minorities react to terror
ASU students discuss impact of attacks
JEFFREY STANLIS
Special to Jewish News
Michelle Frankford, program coordinator at Arizona State University's Hillel Jewish Student Center, listens intently to a comment made by a forum participant.
Photo by Jeffrey Stanlis
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Fear, sorrow, charity, and patriotism: emotions all Americans have experienced in the days since Sept. 11.
But for "hyphenated" Americans, like Asian-Americans, African-Americans and Jewish-Americans, those emotions were complicated by feelings tied to their history, culture and context as part of the fabric of American life, according to the participants of a recent forum at Arizona State University.
"At first, I was almost happy that America had finally joined the world community," Dr. Montye Fuse, a black professor with ASU's English Department, says. "Now we will experience life as people in Israel do, as the Palestinians do, as people in the third world do. It was truly sad, but I was not surprised."
Fuse's opinion and the opinions of people representing other ethnic and cultural groups were discussed in the forum "American Voices, Toward a Deeper Understanding of Sept. 11" at ASU's Memorial Union, Nov. 19. The forum focused on how one's perspective, based on nationality, ethnicity or sociology, impacts the way one looks at incidents like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
While Fuse's perspective seemed controversial, Michelle Frankford, the program coordinator at ASU's Hillel Jewish Student Center, had a reaction more typical of mainstream America.
"I see myself as a citizen of the United States and a Jew," Frankford says. "Being Jewish is important to me, and a big part of who I am, but I'm still an American."
During the forum, Frankford discussed the concern she had for her best friend, who lives in New York, during the hours after the attack. She said she expressed fear and outrage during that day, but in the later days her focus turned to the Jewish community in the United States.
"I always look at world events and think about how that affects Israel, but my direct attention always turns to the Jewish community in the United States," Frankford says. "My concerns for my own people come first."
Dr. Jesús Treviño, director of ASU's Intergroup Relations Center (IRC), moderated the event and pointed out that various news reports had stated that white supremacist groups were using the World Trade Center attacks as a tool for recruiting by blaming Jews and Israel for the disaster.
Treviño also reminded the audience that gays and lesbians are supposed to be as patriotic and supportive of the United States as anyone else, but in state-level elections two weeks ago, seven states had anti-gay initiatives on their ballots. Other groups, including the Chicano population of which Treviño is part, have had similar exclusionary episodes
"Yes, we are American, and we are patriotic about our country, but we haven't always been treated as Americans," Treviño says.
Joining Fuse and Treviño in the "fishbowl" discussion were Frankford; Dr. Kris Ewing, president of the University Career Women's group and the assistant director of the Intergroup Woman's Coalition; Jarrett Gupton, chairwoman of the Women's Coalition; Dr. Yolanda Lopez, a visiting professor in ASU's Chicano/Chicana studies; Nazeer Ebrahim of the Muslim Student Association;
Teri Murphy of the Interfaith Council; Dr. Amy Lind, a professor in the women's studies department and active with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered issues; and Cal Seciwa, director of the American Indian Student Center.
The program was co-sponsored by Hillel and the IRC, with grants from numerous ethnic, religious and cultural organizations.
Frankford notes she was taken aback by the tone and direction of the fishbowl discussion.
"I thought the program was a good idea and had a good premise, but I didn't think this was going to be a forum to preach our own beliefs," Frankford says. "I thought we were going to discuss reactions. I was really surprised."
Following the "fishbowl," the participants and the audience broke into smaller discussion groups.
"I think the group discussions were excellent," Frankford says. "The students, I think, really got a lot out of them."
Fallout from the attacks has been different for certain cultural groups - for Jews and Muslims more than Christian Americans - based on strong feelings about issues in the Middle East, according to Ebrahim. Participants discussed these issues and how they pertain to various ethnic groups.
Each speaker admitted to being "shocked" by the attacks, but several commented they were not surprised that it happened.
"I was sad and angry, but not surprised at what happened," says Cal Seciwa, director of the American Indian Student Center. "It took over 500 years to build to this point, this point of anger against the United States."
Seciwa reminded the audience of a speech President Bill Clinton made Nov. 7 at Georgetown University. In that speech, Clinton linked the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to atrocities committed by the United States in the past. Seciwa remarked that according to Clinton, America is "paying a price today" for slavery in the past and for the fact that "native Americans were dispossessed and killed." Seciwa read this quote from the speech, hushing the crowd.
Treviño began the fishbowl discussion by asking the question, "Where were you when you first learned of the attacks?"
Not only did each of the 11 participants have a different story of where they were and how they learned of the attacks, but also each had a different initial reaction.
"My first reaction was to think of the Oklahoma City bombing," says Nazeer Ebrahim, president of the Islamic Student Association. "When that attack occurred, everyone's first reaction was to blame Muslims. People were saying, 'I saw Arab people in front of the building.' I was very afraid I'd be the target (of a backlash)."
Lind, who had to walk through campus on Sept. 11, noted that she saw only one Arab student that day.
"It was supposed to be a normal Tuesday," Ebrahim says. "I was supposed to write a paper, and I ended up reading the news on the Internet. But my first reaction was one of fear that I'd be a target."
Lind, like others at the event, had trouble identifying with the American flag as a patriotic symbol.
"A flag as a symbol makes some elements visible, and other elements invisible," Lind explains. "If I were to hang a rainbow flag outside my home, I think it would make my neighbors uncomfortable. Meanwhile, I think I'm the only person on my block without an American flag. We (gays) don't identify with the dominant viewpoint as an American. The (American) flag for me feels very oppressive."
Seciwa said he and other American Indians had been among the first to react with renewed and increased patriotism in the days following the attack. But according to Seciwa, while many American Indians proudly display American flags, the issue of patriotism creates an uncomfortable duality.
"I own three flags, and I bring them out at funerals," Seciwa says. "But I also remember that flag is the same flag under which genocide against American Indians once occurred."
Murphy agreed.
"I don't own a flag and I have a difficult time saying the pledge," Murphy says. "I heard, right out of the blocks, some of the Falwell/Robertson comments, and those far-right viewpoints - blaming gays and others - made me uncomfortable."
Fuse says he first remembered a quote from activist Malcom X.
"My first thought was 'the chickens have come home to roost,' " Fuse explains. "Living in the West, I was somewhat distanced from what was happening on the East Coast. But despite my anger and sorrow, I realized America's place in the world had changed."
Fuse also says when he thought about the terrorist attacks, he recalled American foreign policy decisions he questions.
"I can't look at 9-11 without thinking of Nicaragua, without thinking about El Salvador, without thinking about the Middle East," Fuse says. "But I also recognize the inherent freedoms of this country. To me, being an American means reserving the right to be critical of our country."
Gupton, who is black, says he too had mixed feelings. "I felt like an outsider watching the situation."
Ebrahim says the incident augmented feelings he already had.
"From a Muslim-American perspective, there were no new feelings," Ebrahim says. "I think it really amplified existing feelings. I do enjoy this country, the freedoms I have here that I would never have in a Muslim country. But America carries an entirely different face outside this country. I know the foreign policy of this country is something that distances me from other Americans."
Lopez summed up the feelings of the participants when she cited her first reaction.
"I began to think about what it means to be an American."
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