While I’m incredibly proud of the courageous American acts I’ve witnessed on TV these past few days, I can’t help but remember a time when those of this country used our own religious texts to justify the slaughter of Native Americans and the enslavement of blacks, just as the terrorists attacked our country in the name of Islam. While these instances might not be parallel, throughout the years, whether we knew about it or not, innocent people of other lands have died as a result of our country’s actions.

To understand is not to condone, and while the attack we witnessed is undoubtedly horrible, it’s not beyond our capacity to begin to try and comprehend how a person can become so lost as to commit these unspeakable crimes. If we refuse to try and understand, if we simply deny the humanity of these terrorists, then we will never be able to have a chance at truly being able to stop them. New generations motivated by the same emotions will emerge, and while we can continue to increase our security, there’s no guarantee that one day our luck won’t run out once again. I’m not suggesting that the United States is in any way to blame for the motivations behind last Tuesday’s tragedy. But seeking to understand it is something that we owe to ourselves, and to our future.

—HEATHER B. LONG