DEATH BE NOT PROUD
Why we should not celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden

As a member of the Armed Forces, you may assume that I would be outside in front of one of my city’s national landmarks rejoicing for the death of America’s most wanted or should I say public enemy number one. While everyone’s (a portion of fellow soldiers included) first reaction was to take to the streets to celebrate Osama Bin Laden’s death, I immediately began to think about all of the bad things that could happen just by this man’s demise. Yes the leader who took the lives of so many loved ones on September 11, 2001 has finally been brought to justice, but this death does not bring back the many people aboard those plans or inside the World Trade Center. No matter how much the family members rejoice on camera and speak of Bin Laden’s death as closure, I know as a human being their hearts still hurt and long for those fallen citizens.
As I watched as the crowd grew on the television and my eyes on the numerous American flags. I began to shake my head; not in disgust, but for the simple reason that these young people may not have a clue as to how tough this situation could become. I began to think about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Contrary to what you may think you know, this was a small group of people seeking change and equality by using non-violent tactics. When Dr. King was assassinated many people all over the country ran into the streets and began rioting. They burned cars, homes, business establishments, etc. What’s funny is that most of these rioters were not even a part of the movement. Most even despised King!

You may ask, what does this have to do with Osama Bin Laden? I always say, “Learning African American history is one of the best ways to understand how and why things have happened or are happening in this country.” Whatever happens in this country tends to hit the African American community the hardest. Bin Laden, unlike Dr. King used violence as a way of making his movement well known. His assassination may be a victory in terms of finally finding the root of the regime, but those branches still exist, which makes this situation more intense. What we fail to realize is that every great leader has a successor and in some cases the predecessor will split their power amongst his top officials in hopes of expanding the regime’s influence. I am sure just as African Americans retaliated when Dr. King was assassinated or when those navy seals practiced the choreography for the compound infiltration, members of this terrorist group have already been preparing for this day to come. Groups such as the Hamas have already spoken out against this attack and tensions in the Middle East have increased.

So are we celebrating a war that is far from over? Why do we celebrate murder? This one dangerous operation may cause mass revolts in the Middle East and beyond. This may also lead to an increase in the number of soldiers being deployed, which means more of your tax dollars going to the Department of Defense. Weren’t we as a nation just discussing the cutting of funds for DOD? This one act will raise our National Security Alert level and give so called “Blood Americans” more reason to discriminate against Arabs and Muslims. This leads to increased fear in our airports or even when we walk past the local mosque. Racial profiling may be the biggest issue! So why are we celebrating murder?

America herself continues to allow active terrorist groups to assemble on our own turf. So how are we going to fight terrorism over seas and increase western influence (democracy) when we are not “sweeping around our own front door”? How does a nation that was supposedly built on Christian principles celebrate murder? We can argue both sides! One scripture says, “Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord”. One verse speaks of “an eye for an eye”. Another says, “He who is without sin casts the first stone”. So is the bible contradicting or are we really a nation that fakes religion? Are we using it only when we think it is necessary? I will let you answer that. Yes, Bin Laden murdered Americans as well as his own people, but as a nation aren’t we doing the same thing? There is no way to fight violence with violence. Ultimately someone will die or both parties will kill each other. We don’t have time to celebrate or be excited for the death of another man.

“I’m glad the bastard is finally dead”

“Big ups to the soldier who blew his head off”

“Rot in hell Osama”

Now is not the time to celebrate! We must be on our toes and join in the fight to protect our country from foreign destruction. We also need to protect ourselves from the enemies within our borders. Believe me; all bad people don’t dress like Muslims. It’s odd how the videos of wild U.S. citizens from different backgrounds celebrating the murder of a terrorist is called “Jubilation”, but when you have a group of Black students in the middle of the street celebrating the election of America’s first African American president, we called it a Riot! We need to start fighting hate with love! We have these moments when America comes together, but eventually we resort back to hating and fighting one another. If we want to be the greatest country in the world we need to start being an example of a diverse society and loving family for the world to emulate, because our hypocritical agendas only give others the reason to tolerate us in public, but hate us in private. Wake up America!!