Late Thursday night, a large white truck (similar to a tractor-trailer), packed with grenades and other explosives, drove straight into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. At least 84 people were killed and many more injured. This is the third major terror attack in France in the last 18 months, leaving behind unimaginable heartbreak and pain. Something must change to stop these tragedies, but the answer is not more violence or division.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, the people of the world must draw together in unity with the people of Nice, France, grieving with them and supporting them. In times like these, we are all one. Let us not allow terrorists to implant fear into our hearts to divide us; if we allow this feeling to control us, the terrorists will cause us to do their work for them by dividing us and making us fear and incite anger in each other rather than directing our outrage solely at them. Let us all be Nice, feeling their heartbreak along with them, and using it to inspire us to treat one another with respect, kindness, love and peace. Division will never solve anything, and the best way to overcome evil is with good. Instead of letting terrorists dictate our behavior by inciting fear, let’s fight back by being kind to each other. Let us not only be Nice in a show of solidarity, but let us also allow name of the city of this attack be symbolic and a reminder for us to be nice to one another always.
Terror reared its head on France’s national holiday celebrating liberty, Bastille Day, the symbolic equivalent of a terror attack in the United States on the Fourth of July. The day that is supposed to symbolize freedom was tainted by an attack meant to enslave us in fear. Instead of letting the fear divide and conquer us, effectively doing the terrorists’ jobs for them, let us all draw together in unity with the people of this wonderful city and let us all be Nice. But let us also all be Nice in another way; let us come together in unity with the people of Nice, France in a show of commitment to living out kindness rather than division. Only through decisive action and a commitment to treating one another well and fostering unity will the bad in this world begin to decrease. It must be more than changing our profile picture to the French flag and saying “my thoughts are with them.” These are all good things, but if we truly want our world to change, we must also change the way we live. Today, let us all be Nice.
