nmah5081.xml

nmah5081.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-17

Living on the west coast, I was never very familiar with the Twin Towers. I've always thought of the Statue of Libirty and the Brooklyn bridge as the phenominal landmarks of New York, so when my boyfriend called me on the morning of September 11th I couldn't understand why he sounded so upset. My roommate, who is also from California, and I witnesed the attacks on our country via the morning news. We knew it was a big deal because the broadcasting on every channel was interrupted by the coverage of the now collapsing towers. Even then we did not realize the impact that this event would have on our country and the way we lived. In Los Angeles everything from the O.J. Simpson trial to the breakup of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake can make wide media coverage. We didn't even know that there were offices and businesses in the towers. To us they were just two solid towers. We never put the connection together that people were in them. In California they'd never put people in buildings so tall, but then again New York does not have earthquakes. All I could think is "I'm going to pray for those people on that plane" and "It's going to take a long time to rebuild those towers". I kind of thouhgt that the people in the plane would be okay. I think the biggest reason that we were so desensitized to this event was that it was just inconceivable that the United States could be hit so hard by an "inferior" country. I have always realized that the United States was not perfect, with all the years of oppression and racism that it was built on, not to mention the 2001 presedential election that denied citizens of their constitutional right to vote. However, I always thought of it as a country that was way ahead of the game when it came to military defense. How could a terrorist get access to kill Americans? I just couldn't see it.
As I follwed the news coverage, I watched in horror the testimony of people jumping from a hundred flights up to escape the burning buiding and people running from sharp debris. All I could think of is "What is going to happen next?"

Shortly after the attacks, I went home to visit my family and realized that two sisters that graduated with me from high school lost their mother on September 11th. She was flying home to California after getting them adjusted in their college dorm in Boston. Those girls were the first faces that I could really connect with the tragedy and it hit home for me. Soon I heard the stories of other grieving mothers, siblings, friends, and children that lost a loved one and I then knew that it wasn't just New York that was affected it was the whole world.

I think we need to remember the unity that arised following the attacks. People all over the United States came together to rebuild. If people couldn't actually comb throughg the debris, peopole were waiting in five hour lines to donate blood. I think it had to be the first time that the Red Cross had to turn away donors. If we remember this, we have already won the fight against terrorism.

I did not fly the American flag following September 11th. I felt that would be inappropriate because I never flew it before and I knew I would eventually have to make the decision when to stop displaying it, and that would be treating September 11th as some type of trend.
My attitude about the flag has always been a little less than patriotic. Although I am greatful to be an American and I love living in America, I live with the American history that once enslaved my people, stole the land of the Native Americans, robbed the Chinese of their labor on our railroad system, and imprisoned Japanese Americans. I apprecitate that the United States is working on making what the flag stands for exist in America, but I am reminded on a daily basis that this is still not "the land of the free" nor "one nation". If so we would all stop racial profiling. I think that this was evident after the attacks when Arab Americans were targeted in hate crimes and discriminated in airports. When did they stop being Americans? After the planes crashed through the towers, or when they continued to carry out their relegious beliefs and traditions?
However, I do feel even more inlove with American people. We showed AMAZING unity after the attacks and I hope we never lose that.