Twenty Years Later: Roundtable on 9/11
On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Esendom editors discuss the impact of 9/11 on their lives and society as a whole.
Our recollections of where we were when 9/11 happened
Amaury Rodriguez: Like most people, I have a murky memory of 9/11. I remember I was at work and I remember my co-workers crying. It was really intense and real like horror on live TV. We saw people jumping out of windows, emergency crews running and just the utter confusion of survivors on their faces. When I was in college at the CUNY school located a few blocks from the site of the attack, I would go to Borders—located on the first floor of the World Trade Center—to browse foreign and expensive magazines and newspapers. Seeing Ray Bradbury there one time was also memorable. The first thing that popped in my head was what if I had been me there when the attack happened. Many people who did not go to work that morning still believe luck or mere chance saved their lives.
Emmanuel Espinal: Yes, of course. Even though many details have been eroded with time, it is one of those events that mark you for life. It was a regular school day as I was a freshman at Baruch College just a few weeks into the semester. I was in a conference room for about 300-350 students in Psychology 101. I had gotten to class about 5 minutes late and went to sit in the area my friends and I had assigned ourselves, as we were blocked into the same classes as freshmen. When I got there I was not the only of the group that was late. About 20 minutes later a young lady who usually sat in front of us came late to class and my friend Amit asked her happened as she was never late. She told us the trains had been delayed at World Trade Center as a plane had struck one of the towers.
At first we dismissed it as just another one of those small private planes that from time to time plowed into buildings. Not too long after someone from the group received a text confirming what up to that moment was still an accident to us. After signing the sign-in sheet for attendance we decided to leave one by one, as to not make any commotion. Once in the hallway to the electric staircase we saw the first images of the second plane traverse the second tower. Then and there we knew this was something much more serious.
Nelson Santana: Tuesday, September 11, 2001, is a day many of us will never forget. Part of my memory too is a bit murky. However, there are things I remember vividly. I was getting ready for school. As accustomed at that point in my life, I had the television on, which I watched to catch up on news. At some point, the station and nearly all other channels began to report on an airplane that crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings. This was strange and I think most of us believed this to be an accident. However, several minutes later the same occurred to the other “Twin Tower.” Although some believed this to be a very rare occurrence—the idea of a second accident—I think most people believed or at least were under the impression that something worse could happen. My mom had been running some errands that morning. She arrived shortly after the second plane crash. Soon as she entered, we locked eyes and without saying a word, with our eyes we relayed to one another that something just was not right.
Some changes we witnessed in US society after the attacks
NS: A rise in islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiments, and the war on Black and Brown bodies escalated very quickly. This is not to say that discrimination and racism were non-existent prior to the attacks, but 9/11 paved the way for racist and discriminatory legislation that led to attacks on people of color. Anyone who was or remotely looked Middle Eastern was discriminated publicly. There were instances at school (I was a college student at the time), supermarkets, public transportation and the airport for instance, where people’s eyes let me know I was not welcome. In other instances, people would shout at me and even push me, as a way to intimidate me so that I would leave and never return. One immediate change involved how discrimination and racism were quantified on the heels of September 11.
AR: The powers that be enacted a series of arbitrary and repressive laws including the Patriot Act in 2001. The Patriot Act solidified the surveillance state whose ramifications we experience these days. One could feel a wave of patriotism in the air, a “patriotism” grounded on chauvinism, ignorance and imperialism. Nationalism had become hegemonic momentarily. Entire immigrant communities of Middle Eastern and South Pacific descent became targets of racist mobs. In the background, one could hear the drums of war. The mainstream media was complicit in spreading falsehoods to justify war. I remember going to a rally at Columbia University, people were angry and sad at the same time while denouncing any attempt to start a war “in our name” which was a reference to the victims of the attack, and became the slogan of the anti-war campaign. At first, it became increasingly difficult for activists to mobilize people against the Bush administration and its drive toward war.
EE: I agree with both of my fellow editors that in US society there was an influx of hatred towards the Muslim communities. They became the scapegoats for the resentment that a new found patriotism had brought to light. In New York City harassment of minority communities began to be seen everywhere by civilians towards civilians and by police due to newly implemented policies. There was also the flipside where many people were giving each other a hand and even strangers were giving each other hugs. It was a very trying time in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
Lights commemorating the Twin Towers at ground zero. Photo by Lerone Pieters on Unsplash
The legacy of 9/11
EE: 20 years later after seeing the recent exit of Afghanistan, whom the US went to war with as a reaction to the attacks, I think the legacy of 9/11 is present in the images it has produced in terms of the human toll. In 2001 we saw images of the planes piercing the towers, the explosions, the collapse of each tower, the people covered in ash running through the streets and the rubble. In 2021 we see the Afghans handing over their babies to US soldiers and men dangling from airplanes. The legacy should be one of constant reflection so we do not repeat the same mistakes and be a better version of a society.
NS: This is a tough question to answer. September 11 is a very tragic day. Many of the occurrences that transpired afterward are also extremely devastating. As a nation, the United States and everyone living here need to take time to reflect. Many of us have already done some reflecting. Over the years we learned there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Also, in the aftermath of 9/11, we learned that many innocent people were taken hostage, imprisoned in places like Guantanamo Bay, beaten and tortured. Many families lost their loved ones. Many people’s health declined drastically both physically and mentally. On the other hand, I also find many people began to feel a bit more content. Some individuals started to value more their familial bonds and friendships. On that Tuesday morning, some individuals who worked at the World Trade Center and those scheduled to travel by plane remained home, others were late to work or school, and most, if not all, began to see life in a different way. Since 9/11, we have elected the first Black president as well as the first person of Indian, Jamaican, Black, and woman to serve the nation as vice president. Similarly, the rise of Black Lives Matter and similar grassroots movements have forced us all to have more engaging conversations about race and discrimination on platforms where they were previously absent or heavily ignored.
AR: The legacy has been disastrous not only for the people of the United States but also for the people of the world. The war that just ended is a proof of that. For the Dominican community—and other immigrant communities—the war brought immense loss and pain. We need to begin to reassess that time and talk about that lost generation of Dominicans who went to war. This will serve as a reminder of the destructive consequences of war. The poor cannot continue to act as cannon fodder for the rich and their endless wars for profit. As the two of you pointed out, there were many moments of solidarity. September 11 might have seemed paralyzing for a huge segment of the population but at the same time, it was a catalyst that led to widespread anti-war sentiment and also opened people’s eyes to the lies and cruelty of those at the top.
____
Related