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(9/12/01)
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At this point all I can say is that the attacks may signal the end of "American" history, insofar as it will no longer be written—perhaps even within the United States—as a story written in magistral verse with counterpoint curses from those left out. The students here [at Soka University of America] are struggling. The whole purpose of this place is to build communication and understanding as the grounds for world peace, but these kids have never confronted massive violence or death. Indeed, in my class, several students asked me what fascism was—though two students from Europe (Austria and Switzerland) and one from Turkey knew, they were uneasy talking about it with the others. But they all want to learn. That is the good part.