September 3, 2002
I just finished reading a sampling of the essays contained in your report on September 11 and can only hope that the report gets the wide circulation that it deserves. [See www.edexcellence.net .]
I consider myself a political 'liberal' and am a descendant of a 'multicultural' family that includes French, African and Native-American ancestors. My father's family has been here in America since the late 1700's. While we are proud of our heritage and ancestry, we consider ourselves an American family in the truest sense. I am father to a now five-year-old boy whose close friend at pre-school lost his father at the Pentagon. I explained and 'taught' my son things that a person hopes to never talk about with a child that young. One thing I was sure to teach him: That while he was the child of many nations and races, he is an American first. And being American, he has rights and freedoms that no one can take from him. And should someone else try, like the 'bad men' he heard so much about, there would be people, Americans, who would protect him with their lives...
The essence of history, of civics, and of learning itself, should be to develop the mind, heart and soul of a child in understanding self, community, nation and world. My wife and I view that development as a joint venture between ourselves and the educational and social institutions that we access for our children. We want, demand, that the 'stuff' of that development be thought out, balanced, grounded in reality and aimed at the lofty aspirations that guided both our families' ancestors to these shores. Of all the blessings I would wish for my children and their descendants being American would rank with good health and a profound appreciation of Divine Spirit.
Today, my wife and I put our son on a school bus for the first time. We met his kindergarten teacher last week. She has a wonderful reputation and is an experienced educator. A week from tomorrow, I wonder what she'll say to her students. On the other hand, I know that when she starts to teach the Pledge of Allegiance to my son, he'll already know the reverence for flag and country that it's supposed to instill.
Charles Cuyjet
Annandale, Virginia