We all changed on September 11th. Everything changed that day. From the moment that second plane hit the World Trade Center, Americans ceased to exist as we were, and we were in that very instant, transformed into whatever it is, that we are today. America is not the same anymore, you know what I am talking about.
We were so innocent before the attack. Most of us were unaware of how America was seen outside our boarders. We were not aware that for 6 years, people were planning to fly planes into the World Trade Center, we never considered that some terriorist group could plan an attack like 9/11. Most people in America had never even heard of Osama Bin Laden before the attack, but after those buildings fell down, it did not matter which Arab looking person did it, they were all guilty, or seemed responsible, somehow, and we were going to make them pay. We drove around with our flags hanging on our antennas, and swore to avenge the dead. It was such a different America from the day before. I remember thinking, were were all these flags before.
We lost a lot that day, we lost our family, and friends, our co-workers. Something else was lost that day, our freedom. We no longer had the freedom to be ignorant about the world around us, we no longer had the freedom to believe we were safe, here on our shores. The ocean around us was not a barrier, we were not immune. We were not safe. We needed guns, more guns, and bullets. Gun sales exploded.
Septemeber 11 changed the way we look at people in the mall, or on a subway, or in an elevator. Before September 11th, we might not even look around us as we walked along, but now, now we look people directly in the eye, quickly, but directly. We no longer avoid eye contact with an middle eastern looking individual, we make sure we know what they look like, did they have a bag. Before that day, we would have just ignored them, or smiled, and continued on our way. Today, you quickly study the face, the clothes, maybe which floor they exited on, just in case you need to point them out to the police.
Our country lost a few more things after that day. As I said, America first lost innocence, then its honor, finally our integrity. We would later lose our credibility, our fortunes, and our spotless reputation around the world. Before Sept 11, we were the one place where all people are welcomed, no matter where you were born. Come to our schools, learn our language, be American; now, we want fences, and security. They call for tougher immigration, and instead of imbrasing Islam and its peaceful members, The Americans of the South, talk of banning mosques. An uglier America has appeared, has reared its hateful head above the smoke of September 11th.
You know what I am talking about. This is not the America we remember before September 11th. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. We had Brittany Spears, dressed way too scandalisly for a 16 year old, yes, some of our music is a little over the top, but was America really all that bad? Did we warrant an attack against us? Should they have done that? No, nothing we did was justificaton for that madness; even if we do stand behind Israel, and have bases in Saudi Arabia.
But now, now we have hit rock bottom, we have found ourselves at the darkest transformation of all, torture and racism. Before all this, we weren’t openly racist like most of America seems to be now. We weren’t haters of people just because they were of a certain religion. We did not think any kind of torture was okay, now we have “enhanced interrogation.” Do we hear ourselves? We did not act like this before, no we did not. I only wish we could go back to the way things were, back to the good ole’ days, but we can’t because we are here now.