To the Editor:

America was once a nation of nationalistic adventurers. It was believed that Manifest Destiny allowed our forefathers to attempt to eliminate an entire race of individuals form the face of the earth in order to claim their lands for themselves.

If they could not be exterminated then our forefathers simply declared war against them and took their lands by force and defeating them in a most violent way possible.

In 1898, many historians have claimed, it even blew up one of its own warships in the port of Havana in order to declare war against Spain in pursuit of more territory.

And to add to the magnanimous history of America, individuals were taken forcibly from their own lands and forced into slavery in order for their masters to become economically secure in their vast holdings.

America is a nation built on the blood and suffering of many but today we seem to be regressing into a nation of whining, hand wringing, passive drones. A man is forcibly removed from an airline and the entire nation is up in arms. It seems most Americans can no longer accept violence of any nature except if it used to protect their interests. As their interests were not at stake aboard the United Airlines plane, righteous indignation was expressed by all. Perhaps if the gentlemen’s refusal to leave the plane would have led to someone else being unaccommodated, things would have turned out differently. Then perhaps the security people would have been cheered instead of being victimized.

And so it seems that Americans may not be as enlightened as they would like to have the rest of the world believe. Just as their Anglo predecessors felt the need to exterminate those who they felt were an inconvenience to them, these hypocrites would do the same thing if forced to be inconvenienced by anyone else.

John Cervone

North Providence