Respect is a two-way street. We mustn’t disparage the rights of anyone living in this country just because he may share superficial traits with a bad guy. If a killer quotes the Declaration of Independence or the Koran as he detonates his bomb, and you also quote the Declaration or the Koran, that doesn’t make you a suspect. By the same token, we mustn’t disparage the rights of Americans to speak out against the massacre of 9/11, and to express moral support for their fellow Americans.
Too obvious to bother stating? Maybe. But when Aaron Petitt hung a poster on his locker at a high school in Ohio, he got suspended for being “insensitive” to foreign students. The poster showed an eagle shedding a tear over the World Trade Center. You have to wonder: who could be offended? Students in favor of the attack? Thankfully, after a lot of controversy, the school suspended Aaron’s suspension. And at a university in Florida, employees got into hot water for displaying stickers saying, “Proud to Be an American.” They were told: get rid of the stickers. At San Diego State University, Arabic-speaking student Zewdalem Kebede overheard other Arabic-speaking students expressing delight in the terrorist attacks. Kebede started arguing with them. You guessed it. The school rebuked Kebede for “abusive behavior” and warned him not to do it again. Only in America, folks!
The moral of the story? Stand up for what you believe in, even if some obtuse bureaucrat doesn’t like it.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.