While discussing Netherland by Joseph O’Neill in class today, the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center were brought up. These attacks not only had a big impact on the events in this literary work, but they also greatly impacted American foreign policy and history. The thought of these attacks, and the possibility that they could happen again, frightens me immensely. They are not something that I think about every day, however when I read the newspaper to catch up on current events, my fears are reestablished. New York City appears to be an optimal place for a terrorist attack to occur since it is one of the most important and well-known cities in America. This makes our home more of a target than other cities in the United States are. In addition, our class also discussed other people’s experiences on 9/11. Unfortunately, most of my classmates, including myself, are too young to be able to remember the events of this day first-hand. However, I have often heard my friends and family members tell stories about this day. Each person is able to recall what he or she was doing when these attacks began. Many of them say that they had never seen people be as kind to one another as they were in the first few weeks after the tragedy. The 2017 Presidential Election is the only situation I have experienced that I can liken this to. Much like those who witnessed 9/11, I was shocked when I awoke to discover that Donald Trump was the 45th president of the United States. Baruch was eerily quiet that day. I even had some professors and peers who cried during class. For me, this was the most shocking event that I can remember living through. I am sure that I will never forget it.
Pursuing this thought further, another perplexing question that was raised in today’s class was whether the events of 9/11 spread so much panic that they would eventually cause the people of the United States to pick Donald Trump as their president, out of fear of immigrants. This theory makes sense since Trump repeatedly spews negative stereotypes about people of particular nationalities and maintains a loyal following despite these discriminatory remarks. At first it was difficult for me to understand where all of this hatred stemmed from. However, after listening to our class’s discussion, I have realized that perhaps this racism was perpetuated by the tragic events of 9/11. Fear of terrorism caused Americans to turn to the antithesis of tolerance, Donald Trump. However, it is important to remember that hate only breeds trepidation. We should embrace other cultures; we can’t live in fear of people’s differences forever.
Hey Annmarie,
Your comparison of Donald Trump’s victory with 9/11 is intriguing. I think that you can justify comparing the reactions to both events; after all, they have one major thing in common: both of these events incite fear in others. People showing kindness to one another after 9/11 is expected, because tragic events usually bring people together. (Nevertheless, this attitude should appear more often.) On the other hand, for many people, the election of Donald Trump was just as tragic, because this candidate threatened to undermine one of the core values of New Yorkers: acceptance of diversity. So, in response, we are nicer to each other to show that we will not allow this president to weaken the harmony between people of all different backgrounds in NYC. I actually think our city’s response to the election is great, because it shows that we can withstand the test of an intolerant leader to stand in unity, which is the only way that our society can function. Irrational fear of an entire group of people will not solve a terrorist threat; it will only inflame the hate experienced both domestically and internationally.
Hi Annmarie,
I really like your comparison of the reaction of New Yorkers after the election of Donald Trump to that of the weeks after 9/11. While the events cannot be equated, both left deep impacts on American society and changed the way New Yorkers behaved toward one another. I agree with your explanation of our experience in the recent election as being the closest we’ve likely ever come to how post 9/11 New Yorkers came together and exhibited a kindness that is not typical of the hustle and bustle of the city. Obviously considering our young ages at the time of the tragic events of 9/11, we could not notice the changes that were occurring in the city but as college students during the 2016 election, many of us were keenly aware of the happenings around us. I too noticed a difference in the way many people acted between November 8th and 9th. CUNY being a school that advocated for the rights of its diverse students, an idea which is not fully supported by Trump’s administration, was among the first to ensure students that they had a variety of resources to help them get through such a difficult time. While my professors refrained from speaking about their own political opinions, many also expressed their concern for students who may be impacted by the new administration and reiterated the message from CUNY. Fellow students came together and supported one another when it was clear that the events of the previous night were still settling in. While none of those behaviors from CUNY staff or students could have reversed what had happened, I felt comforted by the fact that I had such a supportive campus of people willing to help. I too worry about another tragedy like 9/11 and see how NYC can become another target in the future, considering its importance in our country. While I hope we never have to experience a similar event, I believe New Yorkers can again come together as they have in the past and overcome the differences that may stand between us.
Hi Annmarie, thank you for voicing out your reactions and opinions on such a difficult topic.
As you mentioned in your post, the 9/11 attack and the election of 2016 share many similarities regarding the aftermath of both of these events. Although both of these inspired kind acts following these events, they often didn’t last and there lingers anger and hatred that is often times combustible if brought up again in the wrong manner. For example, you mentioned perhaps there’s a direct correlation with the fear of another terror attack that led to the result of the 2016 election. The election of 2016 revolved around terrorism a lot with Trump’s tactics of reinstalling fear in many Americans against a specific group of people and now I feel as if we are more divisive than ever I can recall in our young lives. In response to that I believe it’s quite often we find a group of minorities as scapegoats for our problems whether it’s related to economics, terror, or anything that seems to be hindering us from progress and I believe that’s where these acts of hatred and threat originate that you at first didn’t recognize. For example, the glass cliff is one of the many ways we impose women to remain unequal to men in a professional field and thus hindering them from being accepted as equally capable and successful.
There is more than to coming together temporarily during the recovery phases but that requires a big call for action from everyone of us. Frankly I find most Americans as apathetic towards issues like these and thus when we find a scapegoat, we stay with it. This results in the prolonged negative effects such as continued racism, hate, terror, inequality, exploitation, etc. Thus we have to do more than simply agree with the statement “yes let’s all come together and respect one another” there is a call for action that many disregard whether due to disbelief or due to discouragement. Audre Lorde addressed black oppression in her speech “Learning from the 60s” but I believe we can relate this to all events where there is reenforced divisibility between anyone from somebody else. Lorde says it best, “If our history has taught us anything, it is that action for change directed only against the external conditions of our oppressions is not enough. In order to be whole, we must recognize the despair oppression plants within each of us –”. We are no longer “too young” to not recognize what is happening in the world and the world around us rather we are all capable of our actions and understanding of these events, but what are we going to do about it? It’s important to recognize and remember the events that have shaped us from our past as well it is valid to fear for a reoccurrence, but also recognize what is happening right now as we speak and are we going to physically going to do something about it. History is watching us as we speak and after the election of 2016, I think there’s no better time for young people like us to make our voices heard loud and clear what we believe and what we stand for as a city, as a nation, and as a world that is worthy of flourishing together towards a better future.
Hi Annmarie, I can see how the comparison you made between the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2017 presidential election could be similar to some people. But, it’s a but extreme to be equating these two events. Certainly, the fear that was invoked after both of the events were similar for certain groups in New York City, it isn’t accurate to say that this was true for everyone. I’m not saying that the results of the 2017 presidential election was a good one for our nation, but one should be cognizant of different perspectives and political beliefs. We live in New York City which is a largely democratic city compared to other places in the U.S. But, we can’t only speak from the point of view of a New Yorker and assume that the election of Donald Trump invoked the same fear as the aftermath of 9/11. Even if we were to equate the two events, the feelings stemming from these two events are entirely different. The fear following the tragic 9/11 attack was more of a fear of a repeated occurrence and a fear of foreign things. The fear following the election of Donald Trump was a fear for our nation’s foreign policy and the position of immigrants in a country run by a man who opposes illegal immigration. But for some people, as you mentioned, the fear was similar and it was a shocking event that we lived through and experienced.