Dear Editor:
The atrocious events of September 11 have sent shudders through our own community here in Hoboken, yet in so many ways has brought us all together. As many of us mourn at least one person (and in many cases more than one) lost in the rubble, neighbors and friends have come together for comforting talk and collective grief.
But even in the wake of such hateful crimes against humanity, I have been witness to a number of vicious verbal and symbolic attacks upon Arab-Americans here in our own city. Despite Mayor Roberts’ proclamation making Hoboken a "Hate Free Zone" there is plenty of hate on display in Hoboken. A bakery owner spewing racist insults at his customers about a neighboring middle eastern restaurant; a tattoo parlor displaying a t-shirt in its window depicting a generic "Arab" with a large red "X" through it; a uniformed police officer holding forth on a street corner about how Arab Americans should all be put in internment camps, just like the Japanese in World War II.
Indeed, these incidents represent protected free speech under our first amendment, but they do qualify as hate speech nonetheless. The law and citizenry may be forced to tolerate such sentiments, but we as citizens are helpless. If you hear such sentiments from a business owner, make sure that owner understands your objections and then stop frequenting that business. If you hear a civil servant, such as a police officer, spewing such hatred, report the incident to the chief of police and to the mayor.
This has hit my family particularly hard as I am married to an Arab-American and we have two small children. To condemn an entire ethnic group based on the actions of a fanatical few is beyond ignorance. What is so surprising is that so many among us still don’t see it that way. Have we learned nothing from September 11? Have we not learned all too graphically that blanket hatred of one country or ethnic group produces only further slaughter? My family and all of us who live so close to the scene of the destruction, want to see the perpetrators brought to justice. But not at the expense of the rights and personal safety guaranteed to all Americans.
Name withheld