By Ellis Washington
We all remember where we were and what we were doing when 9/11 went from being just another date to a phrase that needs no explanation. From across the street or across the globe, we watched it happen in real time. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011, changed the American landscape.
I was a sophomore at Tift County High School in Tifton, Ga., listening to a lecture taught by my world history teacher. I don’t recall exactly the subject of her lecture. I do vividly recall, however, that my class was preparing for an upcoming exam.
As we were preparing for the exam, the teacher next door interrupted the lecture and told my teacher to turn on the television. When Mrs. Dinkins turned on the TV, we heard the voices of Katie Couric and Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show reporting on a plane accident occurring in New York City at the World Trade Center. Like most people who watched the news, we reacted with deep concern for not only those lives immediately lost but also those lives remaining, but trapped, in the Twin Towers.
While watching the live news report, something happened that no one expected. A second plane hit the World Trade Center. At that moment, my classmates and I realized that America was under attack.
Throughout the day, my high school — like other places across the nation — was in total shock. Some students were checked out from school by their parents. Others, including myself, remained at school watching the awful events unfolding in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., from one television screen to another. Even when I arrived home, watching the coverage of the attacks was the primary focus of my family. At the end of the day, uncertainty settled in on the United States of America.
Three thousand people perished that day — more than the number who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the highest one-day death toll on American soil since the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War. But the damage went far beyond the horrific death toll. The attacks changed America’s sense of security, our sense of vulnerability and even our attitude toward the world. The attacks opened our eyes to the danger of terrorism.
Because of the terrorist attacks, our rights have been altered. Our government handles events differently. Our security procedures are tighter. Our travel rules are enforced. Today’s America is not the same as it was 10 years ago.
The shift has not been in the way we view the world but in the way in which we view ourselves. Ten years ago, we were united by the urgent need to come to terms with one of the greatest tragedies in our nation’s history. Whether Democrats, Republicans or Independents, we were reminded that we were in the fight together against the powers of evil. A decade ago, we were united. We were Americans.
Ten years later, it seems no one is very clear about what we’re supposed to be united for. Some would say we are united in concern for the people who died on 9/11, though sympathy alone does not explain an aggressive pattern of retaliation. Others would say that we’re united in our love for freedom and democracy, though a fair number argue that we need to sacrifice our civil liberties in order to defend Lady Liberty. Still others would say that we’re united in a war against terror, though no one’s sure who the enemy really is and what the specific objectives of the war are supposed to be.
America is now divided. The political climate has become so polarized that it is just about impossible to have a legitimate discussion of issues. The economic environment is unstable to the point that we’re on the brink of a fiscal breakdown. The social atmosphere is hypocritical because of its unfair treatment of Muslim-Americans and racial profiling of other ethnic groups.
Now is the time that we come together and unite around the ideas that established our nation. Now is the time that we love our brothers and sisters as ourselves and aid them when needed, without exceptions. Now is the time to work together for the common good, despite our ideological and political views. Now is the time that we stand up for justice and we speak out against injustice.
As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, let us not forget the events that occurred on that fateful day. Let us not also forget the unity that we shared days later. We need that same unity shared 10 years ago brought back into our divided society.