The Submission

After receiving the 9/11 victims’ family money, Asma doesn’t have to worry as much about spending too much on groceries. One day after purchasing food from Mr. Chowdhury’s Bangladeshi grocery store, Asma considers her life as an immigrant in America. Inam, her devoted husband, had helped her get a job at a local pharmacy where she wanted to work. She had been disturbed by the fact that the proprietor, Mr. Sanjeev, a Hindu, would never give credit to people who needed their medicine a few days before their paychecks arrived. After asking him politely to change his policy, he refused. She finally took a stand and quit.

The Bangladeshis’ take on the memorial design falls in line with that of the angry white Americans. They say the contest is not a democracy, nor should it be. Dr. Chowdhury compares the outcome to the time when Pakistan wished to reverse the election for independence that the Bangladeshis had won. The Pakistanis had wanted an election, but they wanted their outcome. It is the same with the selection of the memorial. Chowdhury and all the Muslims present say they don’t blame the Americans for not wanting a Muslim name on the memorial.