Freedom from Fear
Feb. 12th, 2003 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrFrom work:
Here is the text of an e-mail I sent out to my family and friends in October 2001. I’m digging it out of my archives now because as our government has bumped us up to the next "alert level" and the storm clouds of war gather on the horizon again, it seems to me to be entirely germaine.
***
My brother-in-law Fletch wrote (in part of his answer to an earlier email I’d sent him):
Like many of you with the youngest children, I didn't tell the girls much about the attack. I didn't let them see any of the television coverage at all, or newspapers or magazines for several weeks after the attack. I told them just a brief outline the first days: some people who were very angry at the U.S. took some airplanes and did something no one had ever expected, and flew them into some very big buildings, so that some people died. But people all over the world are feeling badly about this and doing everything they can to help make sure people are kept safe, so nothing like that can ever happen again.
Fiona had some questions the first week, which we answered as simply as possible. But otherwise, we haven't talked about the news around the girls.
Earlier this week, however, I was driving home as usual, and I had National Public Radio on in the car. Anthrax--economic free fall--bombs in Afghanistan--airlines going bankrupt--terrorist cells in Europe-- "How much do you girls know about what is going on right now?" I asked them.
They shrugged.
"Do you ever talk about it at school?"
No, they said.
I wondered what to say. Perhaps I could say nothing?
"Well, do you know that our country has gone to war, to punish the people who hurt our people on September 11?"
They shook their heads, wide-eyed.
"It's not exactly like any war we've ever had before, because we're not fighting nother country. We're fighting an organization, called Al-Quaeda. And they have been based in a country called Afghanistan, so we're trying to root them out of Afghanistan so they can't hurt anyone again. But we're not fighting the people of Afghanistan, you see--we're trying not to hurt anyone who hasn't hurt us.
"But the people who attacked us on September 11 hide elsewhere, too, so we're trying to find them, in places where they have hidden. Police from many other countries are doing everything they can to help us." Nothing about anthrax, nothing about boxcutters, nothing about bio or nuclear weapons. Still, was this too much? How the heck did I know?
I glanced in the rear view mirror. They stared back at me.
"Do you have any questions?" I asked gently.
No. They shook their heads.
Had I gone too far? "Well, if you have any questions, go ahead and ask me, okay?"
Yes, they said they would.
That night, Fiona couldn't sleep. She came down and talked with Rob and me, wanting reassurances, which we tried to give her. "Did I go too far?" I asked Rob after we had shephered her back to bed (she wanted the light on for the rest of the night).
"I don't know," he said. "What you said here tonight seemed okay."
As I got ready for bed myself, I thought about when I was Fiona's age, when the country was erupting over civil rights and the Vietnam War. The first political event I remember was Johnson announcing that he wouldn't run for reelection, and the second was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember praying with my Mom at bedtime that night, and I said, "dear God, please bless the soul of this great king," and Mom had to explain, no, dear, his name is Mr. King. But he isn't a king at all. How did my parents explain those crazy, mixed up, frightening times to me, and still make me feel safe?
And then I suddenly remembered Norman Rockwell's painting, Freedom from Fear. I got up and went to my computer and within thirty seconds had tracked it down. You can see it yourself here. I had loved all the Four Freedoms paintings, but this one I particularly remembered. If you look at the father's newspaper, it is reporting on the bombing of London during World War II. I printed out a picture of the painting and showed it to Fiona the next morning.
I told her the story of the Four Freedoms paintings. Rockwell had painted them in response to a speech President Roosevelt had made, talking about four things that Americans can count on: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. They were used to raise War Bonds, which was money the government borrowed from people to fund the war effort. "When I was your age, Fiona, this country was at war, too, the Vietnam War. And when this painting was painted in 1940, over sixty years ago, there was also war news. But you see here no matter what is going on in the world, the job of parents is always the same. We help you protect you in crazy mixed up times, so you can feel safe."
The printout of the painting is now hanging by Fiona's bed. Will it help? Who knows? I didn't sleep well last night myself.
What have you said to your children? What have you told yourself? Do you still believe that Americans have the right to freedom from fear?
[I would add now, and what about the people in the rest of the world, including Iraq? Don’t they deserve freedom from fear, too?]
Sending you all our love.
Peg
P.S. You can see the other Four Freedoms posters here.
Here is the text of an e-mail I sent out to my family and friends in October 2001. I’m digging it out of my archives now because as our government has bumped us up to the next "alert level" and the storm clouds of war gather on the horizon again, it seems to me to be entirely germaine.
***
My brother-in-law Fletch wrote (in part of his answer to an earlier email I’d sent him):
Hi Peg,I've been thinking a great deal about this, about how we should react to the news as parents. All the news is extremely troubling and depressing--how do we tell our children the truth without overwhelming them?
. . . What do the girls know/think about what is afoot in the world? Patrick [Fletch's son] knows about the WTC, they've been doing some relief oriented efforts at school - fundraising and such. To him it's all very far away it seems. He doesn't seem particularly perturbed by it.
Me, I'm not so lucky, a new dad again, the state of the world keeps me up nights wishing everyone, including us would please just *chill* out. I heard read a tagline the other day. Something to the effect of "So is the War on Terrorism like the War on Drugs? We've had such success with the latter, the former is bound to work, right?"
Like many of you with the youngest children, I didn't tell the girls much about the attack. I didn't let them see any of the television coverage at all, or newspapers or magazines for several weeks after the attack. I told them just a brief outline the first days: some people who were very angry at the U.S. took some airplanes and did something no one had ever expected, and flew them into some very big buildings, so that some people died. But people all over the world are feeling badly about this and doing everything they can to help make sure people are kept safe, so nothing like that can ever happen again.
Fiona had some questions the first week, which we answered as simply as possible. But otherwise, we haven't talked about the news around the girls.
Earlier this week, however, I was driving home as usual, and I had National Public Radio on in the car. Anthrax--economic free fall--bombs in Afghanistan--airlines going bankrupt--terrorist cells in Europe-- "How much do you girls know about what is going on right now?" I asked them.
They shrugged.
"Do you ever talk about it at school?"
No, they said.
I wondered what to say. Perhaps I could say nothing?
"Well, do you know that our country has gone to war, to punish the people who hurt our people on September 11?"
They shook their heads, wide-eyed.
"It's not exactly like any war we've ever had before, because we're not fighting nother country. We're fighting an organization, called Al-Quaeda. And they have been based in a country called Afghanistan, so we're trying to root them out of Afghanistan so they can't hurt anyone again. But we're not fighting the people of Afghanistan, you see--we're trying not to hurt anyone who hasn't hurt us.
"But the people who attacked us on September 11 hide elsewhere, too, so we're trying to find them, in places where they have hidden. Police from many other countries are doing everything they can to help us." Nothing about anthrax, nothing about boxcutters, nothing about bio or nuclear weapons. Still, was this too much? How the heck did I know?
I glanced in the rear view mirror. They stared back at me.
"Do you have any questions?" I asked gently.
No. They shook their heads.
Had I gone too far? "Well, if you have any questions, go ahead and ask me, okay?"
Yes, they said they would.
That night, Fiona couldn't sleep. She came down and talked with Rob and me, wanting reassurances, which we tried to give her. "Did I go too far?" I asked Rob after we had shephered her back to bed (she wanted the light on for the rest of the night).
"I don't know," he said. "What you said here tonight seemed okay."
As I got ready for bed myself, I thought about when I was Fiona's age, when the country was erupting over civil rights and the Vietnam War. The first political event I remember was Johnson announcing that he wouldn't run for reelection, and the second was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember praying with my Mom at bedtime that night, and I said, "dear God, please bless the soul of this great king," and Mom had to explain, no, dear, his name is Mr. King. But he isn't a king at all. How did my parents explain those crazy, mixed up, frightening times to me, and still make me feel safe?
And then I suddenly remembered Norman Rockwell's painting, Freedom from Fear. I got up and went to my computer and within thirty seconds had tracked it down. You can see it yourself here. I had loved all the Four Freedoms paintings, but this one I particularly remembered. If you look at the father's newspaper, it is reporting on the bombing of London during World War II. I printed out a picture of the painting and showed it to Fiona the next morning.
I told her the story of the Four Freedoms paintings. Rockwell had painted them in response to a speech President Roosevelt had made, talking about four things that Americans can count on: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. They were used to raise War Bonds, which was money the government borrowed from people to fund the war effort. "When I was your age, Fiona, this country was at war, too, the Vietnam War. And when this painting was painted in 1940, over sixty years ago, there was also war news. But you see here no matter what is going on in the world, the job of parents is always the same. We help you protect you in crazy mixed up times, so you can feel safe."
The printout of the painting is now hanging by Fiona's bed. Will it help? Who knows? I didn't sleep well last night myself.
What have you said to your children? What have you told yourself? Do you still believe that Americans have the right to freedom from fear?
[I would add now, and what about the people in the rest of the world, including Iraq? Don’t they deserve freedom from fear, too?]
Sending you all our love.
Peg
P.S. You can see the other Four Freedoms posters here.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-12 10:31 am (UTC)I don't want to know. If I had to take either - if I had to take anything to save my life - I would, even if it could hurt this kicking, heart-beating Jumper inside me. Because I need to be around for Harry and take care of him and protect him. And I can't think about what's been growing in me for seven months, except to pray that nothing happens to him. I want him to be born. And I want both him and Harry to be safe.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-12 08:30 pm (UTC)http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_freedoms.html
Thank you for pointing out these images.
K. [whose kids are talking about the soldiers they know "over there"]
Thanks
Date: 2003-02-13 06:38 am (UTC)