Kathryn Bigelow And Tom Hardy Teaming For THE TRUE AMERICAN

On September 21, 2001 Raisuddin Bhuiyan was working as a clerk in a friend's mini-mart in a bad neighborhood in Dallas. Bhuiyan was from Bangladesh, had served in the air force there, and had immigrated to America seeking that dream that draws so many here. He had been robbed a couple of times at that store, but he couldn't have imagined what would happen that day: white supremacist Mark Anthony Stroman, on a rampage against people he believed to be Arabs, shot Rais in the face. 

Stroman killed two people that day, Vasudev Patel, a Hindu Indian, and Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani Muslim. Rais lived, but was partially blinded in one eye. Stroman, who was seeking revenge for 9/11, was arrested and sentenced to death. What happened next, as Upworthy says, will leave you speechless.

Bhuiyan began a campagn to save the life of the man who had shot him in cold blood. He spent months campaigning, getting signatures on petitions, and meeting with Texas officials to spare the life of Stroman. The New York Times asked him why, and his answer is moving in its simplicity:

I was raised very well by my parents and teachers. They raised me with good morals and strong faith. They taught me to put yourself in others’ shoes. Even if they hurt you, don’t take revenge. Forgive them. Move on. It will bring something good to you and them. My Islamic faith teaches me this too. He said he did this as an act of war and a lot of Americans wanted to do it but he had the courage to do it — to shoot Muslims. After it happened I was just simply struggling to survive in this country. I decided that forgiveness was not enough. That what he did was out of ignorance. I decided I had to do something to save this person’s life. That killing someone in Dallas is not an answer for what happened on Sept. 11.

Anand Giridharadas wrote a book called The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas about this story; it was published on May 5th and immediately became hot at the studios. Annapurna Pictures won the rights to the book and Kathryn Bigelow is set to direct. Tom Hardy is attached to star, but we have to assume as Stroman, not as Bhuiyan - right? With Ridley Scott's Exodus having an all-white cast anything seems possible these days.

This is an incredible story, with an inspirational message of forgiveness. It's the kind of story I'm glad we're finally able to tell about 9/11; hopefully Lone Survivor burned all the 'kill the brown people' out of our cinemas for a while.