| Subject: WE SEE GODZILLA, THEY SEE KING KONG |
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Date Posted: 12:55:02 12/03/01 Mon
FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
FOR RELEASE: WEEK OF NOVEMBER 2, 2001
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez
WE SEE GODZILLA, THEY SEE KING KONG
Terrorism. Trauma. Fear. Anger. Revenge. Hate. Evil. Anthrax. Homeland
security. Censorship. War. These words have dominated the news lately.
Ironically, these are the antitheses of the words heard immediately after
Sept. 11: courage, heroism, unity, kindness, neighborliness, selflessness and
love.
Why do we seem less secure and less confident today now that we're bombing
Afghanistan to dust? We recently asked trauma expert Bessel Van de Kolk of
Boston University what he thought about the trauma that the nation has been
experiencing. "The nation is not experiencing trauma," he responded. "Tens of
thousands of people have been traumatized. The rest of us are simply acting
as though we've been traumatized.
"Those who fled for their lives, who were injured or who lost loved ones, the
firemen and the rescue workers. ... Those are the ones who've been
traumatized. I'm very fearful that if not treated, they're in danger of
developing horrendous Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." He warned that if they
aren't treated, they're at a high risk of traumatizing (through neglect and
abuse) loved ones in the future. They're also at risk of becoming alcoholics.
Tens of thousands were clinically traumatized on Sept. 11, not tens of
millions. So then what are we feeling or experiencing? Frayed nerves? Fear?
He believes we're suffering from an addiction to victimization -- fueled by a
sensationalist media that is feeding a public "that's hooked on trauma and
that doesn't want to have no news."
"The chances of getting hurt by people we love are much greater than by some
terrorist. Every two minutes women are beaten by their husbands; every few
minutes a child is molested." The chances of most Americans being hurt by
terrorist action are minuscule in comparison. "I'm much more concerned about
drunk drivers."
Perhaps what's afflicting America is not clinical, but cultural and political
trauma. Perhaps in Osama bin Laden, we're seeing Godzilla, whereas his
supporters are seeing King Kong. As a result, many have turned to sc
apegoating, going so far as calling for massive deportations of all aliens.
"We all have the capacity for terrorism in our souls," notes Van de Kolk.
"Those who've been harassing Arabs/Muslims are terrorists who've been
inspired by terrorists."
As the president has noted, we're in a different kind of war. Since the Civil
War, no U.S. war has been fought on U.S. soil. And since Vietnam, we've
fought proxy wars or have bombed other nations long-distance, which has
insulated us from death and destruction. That's now changed as this nation's
enemies have struck back with unconventional weapons. The result is extreme
fear, perhaps the most powerful emotion known to humankind.
The fear and anxiety gripping the nation are unfolding as our elected and
appointed leaders appear to be cowering, confused at best, having abandoned
their offices. Their most courageous act has been to encourage us to ...
shop? We have the most powerful weapons in the history of humanity -- having
spent trillions of dollars for national defense -- yet we don't feel secure.
Why? Because they weren't designed to defend us at home. Neither can they
stop fear. So, we ask, who is winning this war? A better question is what war
are we engaged in?
A war to ensure U.S. security, against terrorism, to overthrow the Taliban
and install freedom-fighters in Afghanistan? A war to protect our freedoms?
(Then why did Congress just roll over and pass the USA Patriotic Act that
curtails our basic privacy rights and chills our freedom of speech?) The war
we really need to wage is the one against fear, a fear so great that many
people would readily sacrifice the Constitution.
Whatever we're feeling, terrorism is something that the people of the Middle
East, Third World countries and, to a lesser extent, Europe have been living
with for generations, yet they've not eradicated it. In that sense, Americans
are now indeed culturally traumatized, afraid to travel, open their mail,
shop at malls and leave their homes. We are close to being paralyzed by fear.
Interestingly, many people of color who've lived with racial intimidation and
violence and fear of law enforcement -- including dragnet immigration raids
-- already know this experience.
As Van de Kolk suggests, what we're in dire need of at this time, is strong
leadership that takes us out of this gripping fear, while reassuring us that
our rights and freedoms remain sacrosanct during these most difficult times.
Where's Godzilla' nemesis, Gamera, now that we need him?
COPYRIGHT 2001 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
** Gonzales is the author of the forthcoming "The Mud People: Anonymous
Heroes of Mexico" and co-author of "Gonzales/Rodriguez: Uncut & Uncensored"
(ISBN: 0-918520-22-3 -- Ethnic Studies Library Publications Unit, UC
Berkeley. Rodriguez is the author of Justice: A Question of Race (Cloth- ISBN
0-927534-69-X paper ISBN 0-927534-68-1 -- Bilingual Review Press). We can be
reached at PO BOX 100726, San Antonio, TX 78201-8726, or by phone at
210-734-3050 or XColumn@aol.com "Column of the Americas" is posted every
Friday and archived under "Opinion" at www.uexpress.com
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