On September 9th of 2001 two commercial aircrafts were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City.  The planes were hijacked by members of the religious group al Qaeda.  Soon after the attacks president George W. Bush addressed the nation to inform the world of these these attacks that he called "  evil, despicable acts of terror."  Also, the president clearly ensured the world of America's stability as well the beginning of the United State's War on Terror.  Finally, he states that this is a day for America to show its unity, help our fallen neighbors and to back our military as a nation that now finds itself in a wartime.  Five months after these terrible attacks on America's very own soil, John Edgar Wideman takes a step back to analyze the way that the United States government handled the series of attacks that took place on that early autumn day in September.  These deep thoughts had to be expressed and it led to Wideman writing the piece, "WHOSE WAR: The Color of Terror".  His thoughts end up being almost a direct response to George W. Bush's "Address to the Nation on Terrorist Attacks".  His response is essentially one large disagreement on all of the actions taken by his very own government leading up to and following the attacks.  Wideman begins to express his feelings on the problems that were in our own country, yet we weren't tending to them.  As a country we were more worried about foreign problems rather than the domestic ones.  This is where president Bush and John Wideman had conflicting views.  They both agreed that we should we should be in war, but the choice of wars is where they did not agree.  Wideman believed that the domestic issues were far more important to progression of the nation, while Bush believed that we should be concerned with the foreign problems.  Comparing these two texts can give a great insight of completely opposite perspectives of where the United States stood as a nation as of the early 2000's.  

Early on in Bush's address he states that, "America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world" (Bush 468).  Wideman thoroughly disagreed with this quote from the president.  This is exactly where Wideman believed the domestic issues of America were.  America was thought to be a great country that was full of liberty and freedom, but Wideman's culture allowed him to see through this global stereotype.  He actually didn't have to see through it because it was something that the people of his kind experienced every single day.  Wideman says, "I am an heir to centuries of legal apartheid and must negotiate daily, with just about every step I take, the foul muck of unfulfilled promises" (Wideman 472).  Mr. Wideman is almost directly responding to the quote from Bush.  He believes that our country is not full of freedom and opportunity for those who are African American.  Throughout Bush's entire address he provides all of his plans to show that the great nation of America still is strong and tells how this great nation will respond to such a devastating tragedy.  Wideman's views on these plans are of course not in agreement with the president's either.  He asks himself how would he be able to take the president's advice of being such a good American when his own race still isn't even treated fairly in this country that is the "brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity" (Bush 468).  Wideman portrays his beliefs on following Bush's request to American citizens as they attempt to move forward as a nation after the attacks by the quote that states, "I'm sorry.  I'm an American of African descent, and I can't applaud my president for doing unto others what he's inflicted on me and mine" (Wideman 471).  Here Mr. Wideman is bluntly comparing Bush's plans of retaliation on the attackers to the treatment that his race has gotten by his government in his own country.  

Wideman believed that this was not the war that America should be in at this time period.  He also is stating how America provoked this war by " blocking the flow of food and medicine to Iraq, no fly zones, and embassy bombings".  Wideman knew that America wasn't innocent and we shouldn't have instigated this war because there was still a domestic issue that needed to be handled before America attempted to be the world police.  How could a nation with its own problems have the audacity to intervene in foreign issues?  The main issue was a sense of disunity between African Americans and pretty much every other race in America.  These issues date back to the very beginning of the United States as a nation and still haven't been resolved completely some 225 years later. The war on Terror was not the war that primarily needed to be fought by Americans in the year of 2001 from Wideman's perspective.  Wideman believed that African Americans would still be treated slightly unfairly forever if Americans didn't realize the problem and fix it.  There were still tons of racism in the country and only the blacks seemed to still see it.  Nonblacks had no clue what it meant to be attacked in any sense or fashion until the September of 2001.  This is where Wideman found irony in the entire situation.  He says "Did I see in their eyes a similar shock and surprise on September 11.  Is it truly news that some people's bad times (slavery, racial oppression ) have underwritten other people's good times (imperial domination, luxury and prosperity)" (Wideman 472).  When the attacks happen Bush addresses the nation and ensures them that justice will be served to the best of their ability to the people behind that attacks.  Wideman finds it ironic that now people want to retaliate when they aren't treated fairly, but when African Americans try to just reach a point equality it is deemed as "rage, bitterness, or anger" (Wideman 472).  Obviously this completely opposing cultural experience between African Americans and all others shows that there was a complete disunity in the nation.  Not only does it show this, but it also displays how oblivious the entire country was to this racism that African Americans could not escape.  Bush quotes near the conclusion of his address that, "This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace" (Bush 469).  Wideman is saying this is not our war because even our president is even acknowledging the fact that there is disunity and is ignorantly calling for America to unite.  Needless to say, Mr. Wideman believed that Americans needed to work on unity before they take on foreign issues.   

Finally, The War on Terror was not a good because there was no real reason for America to even make such a violent statement.  The attacks on the middle eastern countries by America were solely to make a statement. Or as Wideman would say, "To upstage and camoflauge a real war at home the threat of terror is being employed to justify a phony war in Afghanistan" (Wideman 472).  Even though Mr. Wideman knows about the attacks that America carried out against middle eastern countires, president Bush addresses the nation as if America is innocent and that the 9/11 attacks were unexpected.  He says, "Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable act of terror" (Bush 467).  Wideman argues that The War on Terror was a phony war "because it's being pitched to the world as a righteous retaliation, as self-defense after a wicked, unwanted sucker punch " (Wideman 472).  He goes on to say it is a phony war because Bush's plan to completely destroy terrorism globally is outright impossible.  Wideman repeadeately starts off many paragraphs with "a phony war because" to show a list of reasons why The War on Terror is not a good idea for the United States to engage in at the time. Many of his reasons are based on the lies that the government and media continuously feed society to persuade American citizens to support our country in this fight to end terrorist ideology because it goes against everything that America believes in.  In Bush's address he speaks as if these attacks were unprovoked and unexpected.  Wideman sees right through this and gives multiple reasons as to why he isn't providing the whole truth and why we shouldn't even be in this situation at all.  

In conclusion, the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 of 2001 left most American's in complete astonishment.  Therefore, the president of the United States is forced to address the world to report the damages done and the stability of the country after the devastating attacks.  Throughout his entire address, he ensures that the country is still capapble carrying out all normal tasks but asks the citizens of America to unite and help the nation move forward.  John Edgar Wideman looks back on all of the actions that the United States government took and begins to wonder why our country is even in this War on Terror.  In "WHOSE WAR: The Color of Terror" Wideman explains his reasoning as to why The War on Terror should be irrelevant to Americans.  He begins with stating how there is still racism in America and no one seems to see it or care.  The racism has created a huge disunity in the country but he feels as if only the African Americans even notice it.  Nobody understands the hard times that African Americans go and Wideman explains this by talking about his childhood in Pittsburg. He finds it ironic that Americans want to retaliate after the attacks, but when he just wants to receive justice in his own country it is seen as rage and anger.  He states that we should worry about these domestic problems before we attempt to worry about foreign problems. Bush says that America implemented The War on Terror because they were attacked on their own soil.  Wideman argues that yes, America was attacked, but only because they provoked these attacks by attacking al Qaeda countries first.  Bush addresses the world as if America is innocent and has every reason to be astonished by the attacks on the World Trade Center.  Wideman argues that America was not innocent, but only trying to make a statement about world power.  They also keep their own citizens as advocates by feeding them stories that aren't the whole truth.  John Edgar Wideman believes that America tried to make this statement at the wrong time.  He argues that the racial issues within the United States are more important than making a global statement about power.  Comparing Bush's address to the nation to Wideman's "WHOSE WAR: The Color of Terror" shows that the early 2000's were not exactly what the majority of the population saw it to be.  Huge racial issues were still present and were far more important than The War on Terror.

