Revenge Comes Home Analysis

Improved Essays
As the damage caused from the crash of the twin towers begins to clear, a new wave of racism and american supremacy sweeps across America. Sonia Shah, an Indian-American investigative journalist, writes “Revenge Comes Home” (2001), an essay that asserts the awful truth behind the prejudice and difficulties faced by people of Asian and Arabic appearance in the days after the terrorist attacks in New York. This essay gives insight into her own personal experiences and highlights her criticisms regarding the polls organized by corporate media companies. Shah supports her claim by providing multiple examples of hate crimes that people that appear Asian and Arabic have experienced, such as the use of quotes from influential politicians who essentially …show more content…
The APALC stated that “ five South Asian or Middle Eastern Americans have been slain so far”. The use of the word “slain” instead of “killed” creates a heavier sense of dread within the audience due to its darker connotation and melancholy tone which in some ways, could be a reference to bible. The word “slain” is used very often in the bible when describing the death of an animal, which highlights the ideas that minorities are often being treated and viewed as animals instead of people. Shah begins with different examples of domestic terrorism that are not as extreme, such as “a bag of blood was thrown on the doorstep of an immigrant-services center” in San Francisco, CA. This shows that businesses and corporations that support other races are also being targeted, even if people within those businesses themselves are not Asian or Arabian in appearance. Another example occurred in Mesa, Az, where a Sikh man was shot and the suspect shouted ‘I stand for America all the way’ as he was handcuffed. This shows how a strong sense of nationalism and support of racist ideals often unintentionally intertwine. The idea of shooting an Arab man who wasn’t disrupting society in any way in order to “keep the peace” in America is quite ironic, yet it happens constantly. This is similar to when, “300 people waving flags and shouting ‘USA! USA!’ tried to march into a mosque.” The fact that people believe it is okay to disturb a sacred and holy building such as a mosque shows how people can be blinded by their “American pride”, yet in reality, this type of intrusiveness and vulgarity can be blamed on ignorance. These examples of domestic terrorisms begin with annoyances such as slurs and

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