Upon walking into the first section, there is a huge timeline from wall to wall of all the recent and old terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States and the most popular global terrorist attacks. The room is dimmed to set an eerie and solemn mood. The first piece of art that is presented is a wood engraving from August 24, 1872. The illustration on the wood depicts Horace Greeley, Democratic presidential candidate in 1872, and Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner urging a reluctant black man to shake hands with Tammany Hall and a Ku Klux Klan member over the dead bodies of a black woman and her children. This art is meant to exemplify that terrorism has been an issue for centuries. Since the late 1860’s, the Ku Klux Klan terrorized verbally, physically and violently minorities in the United States because they believed minorities shouldn’t have the same rights.
While continuing to look through the timeline of many tragic events a big piece on the wall will be dedicated to September 11 2001, the day of the greatest terrorist attack on American soil, took place. The unforgettable day, when a group of Islamic extremist, associated with al-Queda, hijacked four planes, killed almost 3,000 people and left millions of people in fear. On display will be pictures, paintings, sculptures, physical parts of the world trade center, flowers, and the radio station playing from that day.
After miserably looking at the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the exhibit’s timeline continues with more recent terrorist attacks. At the end of the timeline hangs a massive digital clock showing today’s date and current time. This clock will update every day and show pictures of ISIS and pictures of Hamas. ISIS and Hamas are two terrorist organizations that are constant threats and commit unlawful acts of violence to intimidate societies and achieve a political, religious ideological objective. These are today’s terrorist that kill innocent people throughout the world.
From the dark and scary terrorist attack room enters a room painted in blue. In this section, it shows victims’ immediate emotional reactions towards terrorist attacks. Two emotional reactions are sad and disheveled, demonstrated through: the crying girl and the mask of a crying girl disheveled. Two real life scenarios of people’s immediate emotional reactions towards the terrorist attacks are demonstrated through a child crying at Dadaab refugee camp and a group of police officers attending the funeral of the first New York City police officer killed in Iraq. The child was crying because an Islamic militia with alleged links to Al Qaida, is controlling large areas of Somalia and imposing tough Sharia laws, forcing many civilians to flee to Kenya. The police men were attending the funeral of Staff Sgt. James McNaughton who was the first New York City police officer killed in Iraq. These two examples exemplify fear (disheveled) and sadness.
After the immediate emotional reaction section, the exhibit leads the viewers to a response section. On the walls of this section, hang many artworks of societies responding to a previous terrorist attack. One of the photographs is the September 11th one year anniversary. This photograph occurred in New York City on September 11, 2002. Families of the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center commemorate the one year anniversary during the memorial ceremony at ground zero. Another photograph in this section is a tribute of flowers laid outside the Cathedral in central Oslo on the day that Anders Behring Breivik made his first court appearance following his arrest for two terrorist attacks on 22nd July 2011. A large vehicle bomb was detonated near the offices of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg resulting in several injuries and deaths and a mass shooting attack claimed dozens of lives on Utøya Island about 40 Kilometers from Oslo. Breivik confessed to carrying out both atrocities. Both of these examples show community, determination and hope to bounce back and make a stronger and better society.
Additionally, in this section it will show correct responses to Terrorism. The first is how congress responded to the Ku Klux Klan. In 1871, Congress passed the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Klan act. This allowed for President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan.
With passage of the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act, Congress authorizes President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Lastly, another example of the correct and precautionary response the USA had to terrorism is evident after 9/11. As a result of 9/11, there were many changes and improvements. There was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration and The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act etc. 9/11 created an uptight and fearful America. Now, people can’t walk into ballgames without being checked by security. 9/11 was one of the most tragic and revolutionary terrorist attack ever.
Thus, when leaving the last section, the national anthem will be playing and displayed will be memorial plaques of the victims who were killed through terrorist attacks. Additionally, each countries’ flag, each branch of military flags (Airforce, Army, Coast Guard, Navy), and a police flag (which does exist) with be present. Lastly, standing by the exit will be an assortment of charity boxes which one can donate to the victims of a recent and different terrorist attack.
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