Letter: Now is not the time for US to cower, hide

On reading the latest proposed congressional immigration resettlement screenings to be imposed on Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, and other ethnic refugees fleeing from predominately Muslim countries, I was struck by the similarities these screenings had to the workings of the U.S. government during World War II directed at the Japanese population in this country.

I asked myself, "What will be next? Internment camps for those followers of Islam. Will the U.S. become a regressive state, where people huddle in fear as our Congress seems to be doing? Will we see Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Muhammad Ali placed in a detention camp, their lives shattered?"

Blame for aggression cannot be placed upon the majority by those acts of a few. Rather than taking a fearful approach to resolving these issues, we should instead embrace the attitude expressed by the Parisian interviewed on NBC on Nov. 18.

When asked if the attacks had changed anything in France, she replied (I paraphrase), "They didn't take anything from us. We will continue to enjoy and export our smelly cheese, fine wine, art, and culture."

This should be our stance. Our time is not to cower and hide but to be on the forefront to defend and promote democracy.

We must be mindful of the words of President Franklin Roosevelt during another dark time in our history. He urged Americans to believe that "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

America, rise and go forward with the dignity and grace that has been our legacy since our foundation.

David Brink

Bluffton

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Letter: Now is not the time for US to cower, hide."