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“What is an American?”
 An American
is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian
or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian,
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani,
or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho,
Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American
is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact,
there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference
is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will
answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming
to speak for the government and for God.
An American
is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root
of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence,
which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.
An American
is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation
in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by
the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies
to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of
September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the
poor in Afghanistan.
Americans
welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music,
the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.
The
national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired
and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless,
tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some
of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11,
2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the
World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures,
and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you
can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General
Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in
the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing
yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular
place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone
who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
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