A tale of two Americas TED 演讲稿.docx

A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collidedWhere are you from? said the pale, tattooed man.?Where are you from??Its September 21, 2001,?10 days after the worst attack on America since World War II.?Everyone wonders about the next plane.People are looking for scapegoats.?The president, the night before, pledges to?bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies.And in the Dallas mini-mart,?a Dallas mini-part surrounded by tire shops and strip joints?a Bangladeshi immigrant works the register.?Back home, Raisuddin Bhuiyan was a big man, an Air Force officer.?But he dreamed of a fresh start in America.?If he had to work briefly in a mini-mart to save up for I.T. classes?and his wedding in two months, so be it.Then, on September 21, that tattooed man enters the mart.?He holds a shotgun.?Raisuddin knows the drill:?puts cash on the counter.?This time, the man doesnt touch the money.?Where are you from? he asks.?Excuse me? Raisuddin answers.?His accent betrays him.?The tattooed man, a self-styled true American vigilante,?shoots Raisuddin in revenge for 9/11.?Raisuddin feels millions of bees stinging his face.?In fact, dozens of scalding, birdshot pellets puncture his head.Behind the counter, he lays in blood.?He cups a hand over his forehead to keep in the brains?on which hed gambled everything.?He recites verses from the Koran, begging his God to live.?He senses he is dying.He didnt die.?His right eye left him.?His fiancée left him.?His landlord, the mini-mart owner, kicked him out.?Soon he was homeless and 60,000 dollars in medical debt,?including a fee for dialing for an ambulance.?But Raisuddin lived.And years later, he would ask what he could do to repay his God?and become worthy of this second chance.?He would come to believe, in fact,?that this chance called for him to give a second chance?to a man we might think deserved no chance at all.Twelve years ago, I was a fresh graduate seeking my way in the world.?Born in Ohio to Indian immi