You probably missed it in the rush of news, but 
there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan 
had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to 
anyone who killed an American, any American.  So I 
just  thought I would write to let them know what an 
American is, so they would know  when they found one.

   An American is English, French, Italian, Irish, 
German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American 
may also be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, 
Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan. 
An American  may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, 
Navaho, Apache, or one of the many other tribes known 
as native Americans.

   An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, 
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 at all.

   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 man and woman 
to 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.

The best products, the best books, the best music, 
the best food, the best athletes.  Americans welcome 
the best, but they also welcome the least.

   The national symbol of America 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 in 
the morning of September 11, earning a better life 
for their families. [I've been told that the people 
in the Towers were from at least 30, and maybe many 
more, other countries, cultures, and first languages, 
including those aiding and abetting 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.

So look around you. You may find more Americans 
in your land than you thought were there. One day 
they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, 
tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. 

Then those lands, too, will join the community of 
free and prosperous nations. 
And America will welcome them!

 

"What Is An American" was written by Peter Ferrara,
Associate Professor of Law at Georgia Mason 
University in Northern Virginia.  Mr. Ferrara's 
commentary was originally published in the 
National Review September 25, 2001