tp102.xml

tp102.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-02-28

September 11 is a day that I believe no one, whether
in or out of the United States, will ever forget. I
think that as Americans we thought nothing to that
extent would ever happen in our country. We felt
safe. We would turn on our television sets and all we
would view was violence in other countries, never
believing it would happen to us. Once we all opened
our eyes we realized that the safeness and security we
felt wasnt really there at all. I recently flew to
New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. to take a tour
of the Ivy League schools in the area. I was nervous
to begin with since it was my first time flying. It
was also just nine months after September 11. We
departed from D.C. The moment I felt nervous was when
I spotted a Middle Eastern man passing through
security. Suddenly the images of Osama bin Laden
played back in my mind over and over. This man looked
very much like him, a white turban upon his head and
the thick dark beard. When I saw him pass through
security without any problems I began to feel nervous.
"What if he is hiding something in his turban?"
"What if he is on the same flight I am on?" These
questions kept reoccurring in my head. I have never
been a racist of any kind. Why was I thinking like
this? I was scared. I realize now that we act
differently towards others who dont live like us or
look like us. We are now judgmental of others more
than ever. "But why should we be?" I ask. So my
lesson learned? When it comes down to it we are all
the same; we are all human.