We, as Americans, have really been through a lot at The U of M this past year, but there was one event in particular that I feel compelled to write about for my last column.
None of us will ever forget where we were when we heard about it. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
I had just woken up and was eating breakfast that sunny Tuesday morning when I turned on the TV and I saw the New York skyline full of smoke from the first plane attack.
Before I could finish my cereal the second plane had already hit.
Terrorism had finally crossed the ocean and America had been launched into war.
On my way to school the second tower collapsed and reports were coming in that the Pentagon had been attacked.
Initially I didn’t realize the impact that the attacks would have, but as Tower One fell down to the busy streets 110 stories below, the world began to change.
I know it has been said a hundred times, but nothing would ever be the same.
Even though the attacks were hundreds of miles away, it felt like it happened in my own backyard, and in a way it did.
As I sat in class I was wondering what had happened since I had last seen a TV.
Had the White House been hit? The Capitol Building?
Was this the beginning of the end of the world?
It was, at the very least, the end of the world as we had known it.
Wives called husbands, and husbands called wives.
Grandparents called their grandchildren.
Parents picked their children up early from school.
Churches and temples held “emergency services” to attempt to restore some form of normalcy to their members,
Did you see it? What should we do? What is going to happen now?
Everyone watched and waited eagerly to hear from our president.
American flags were flying on car antennas, hung on houses, drawn on sidewalks, painted on windows. The only place you couldn’t find an American flag was in stores.
Our spirit and perseverance were challenged on that sad September day, but Americans responded strongly and in solidarity
We were unified. For the first time since the Declaration of Independence was signed and Pearl Harbor was attacked, we were truly unified.
We were no longer blacks or whites, we were no longer Christians or Jews or Muslims. We were Americans first and foremost.
Perhaps the only thing more tragic than the attacks of Sept. 11, was that it took an act of that magnitude to bring us together.
But, the togetherness was only temporary...if you think everyone is still unified you’re sadly mistaken.
Racism, especially in Memphis, is as thick and stubborn as ever before.
Cultural intolerance runs rampant across the country, even right here on campus.
We are no longer innocent bystanders watching history as it unfolds, but we are called to be active in how it unfolds.
Be involved; Tell It Like It Is.
