Casualties of 9/11

I was 15 when the Twin Towers fell.  I lived almost 400 miles away from any building that was more than 4 stories.  But at 15 I was old enough to comprehend what was happening even if I wasn’t old enough to grasp the consequences of what was to come.

In my 15 (and 25) year old mind it was hard to wrap my brain around the idea that there were people thousands of miles away, some who had never met an American, that could hate us enough to harm fathers, mothers, sisters, lovers, friends, and children who were just going about their day.  That they could hate what we represented enough to commit murder and destroy a sense of safety we had come to expect as our right.  That there were people that could hate on a level I didn’t understand.

I think the greatest casualty of 9/11 was not just the lives that were lost in the attacks and aftermath (and today as first responders continue to suffer the consequences of their amazing acts of heroism), but the loss of connection that some people lost to what makes us Americans-to what made us a target in the first place. 

We are a melting pot of cultures, races, and religions.  Since we began people came to America for the idea of a better life-to live a life pursuing their own happiness.  My Grandmother got on a boat when she was 17 and left everything she had ever known to come here on the hope that she could live a better life.  My other Grandmother was able to escape an abusive marriage because unlike in other cultures women are not property here.  My father who had been raised by a single mother was able to go to college through social security benefits provided through his deceased father-because as a country we have a history of doing the right thing for our people so that everyone can have the life they want and work for.

In my late teens and early twenties I have seen Americans who’ve grown up with these rights start to become obsessed with restricting the rights of others-racism towards a culture we had never met instead of just those who had committed these acts against us has unfolded over the years.  Racism has always been around, but I feel like what happened gave license to so many to hate even more.  I’ve seen our government use the expense of a war to protect freedom as an excuse to not protect their own people by providing access to reasonable healthcare-not even the first responders who saved lives of others that day.  I’ve seen 9/11 used as an excuse by the ignorant to hate a religion almost a third of a world practices simply because they don’t understand. 

I will never forget what happened to us on 9/11.  The memory of seeing bodies leaping to their death to escape the flames behind them is one that I don’t want to forget.  But I do hope that 10 years later that as a country we can forgive those who had absolutely nothing to do with it.  I hope that every single American can be as brave as those that died, survived, and the first responders who went in to save those around them, brave enough to be true to who we are, who we’ve been, and who we can become if we stay true to the ideals that make our country one of the greatest in the world. 

I am proud to be an American.