Editorial: 9/11
by Quinn Jones ’23, Contributing Writer
September 11, 2001, is a day that will forever live in the hearts and minds of Americans. Whether you knew someone in the towers that day, are related to first responders (for me, my dad and brother are volunteer firefighters), or are thinking of the three Hamilton alumni who died in the attack, 9/11 was a loss we experienced as a country. In honor of the nearly three thousand lives lost that day, Hamilton Democrats coordinated an effort to place flags outside of Sadove and observe a moment of silence as a Hamilton Community. As an organization, we hope that as you walk across Martin’s way, the flags serve as a reminder of the 2,977 lives we lost 20 years ago.
The true heroism of first responders and rescue workers cannot be overstated. It takes true courage and compassion to run towards danger, putting your life at risk for the chance to save another’s. First responders from all over the tri-state area answered New York City’s call, putting their lives at risk and are still today suffering from debilitating illnesses from the toxic debris. Their selflessness is awe-inspiring, a constant reminder to support our community in the best way we can. This can be as simple as being there for your neighbor in a moment of trouble, but we also have a larger duty to ensure an equal promise of opportunity and dismantle structures of oppression that hold us all back, a calling we should all take part in.
The legacy of 9/11 is not just taking our shoes off before a flight or taking a moment to remember each year. The terrorist attack of 9/11 has reverberated throughout our country not only in shared loss but in shared fear. A shared fear which has led to a severe increase in islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims, a shared fear that led Congress to pass S.J.Res.23, authorization for use of military force which has essentially amounted to a blank check for Presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, to spend exorbitant amounts of money on endless wars without clear goals approved of by Congress.
This is the part of 9/11 that we don’t like to talk about, the repercussions of collective trauma and our mistakes and failures as a country. We can’t avoid the truth, though, especially as we’ve only recently pulled out of Afghanistan, a decade after Osama Bin Laden was killed. 9/11 has been unspeakably politicized, used as a bargaining chip to gain support, rather than being recognized as a universal tragedy that transcends party affiliation.
What does it mean to “Never Forget”? Do we glaze over our mistakes as a country or do we push to forge a better future, one without endless wars and politically convenient hatred? We should all remember 9/11, especially for the lives lost, but also for the lessons we have learned along the way. In his 1963 book Strength to Love, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” America came together after the attacks of 9/11, but it is our responsibility to not make that a one-off or forget the ways in which we can do better. We are all responsible for how we carry out the legacy of 9/11, both in our everyday actions and our larger commitment as citizens to hold government accountable for its failings, striving each day to become a just union that lives up to the values of equality and liberty for all.
