Educational Narrative- Final

             In 2004, I was 7 years old and angry. We moved from a Navy base on an itty-bitty island in the Mediterranean Sea with only 300 Americans to a town with almost 8000 people. I didn’t know who Hannah Montana was or the name of our president. The date, September 11^th, had no meaning for me. For a while I insisted I wasn’t American, I was European and proud of it. It took me years to identify as an American and even now I miss Europe. It wasn't until middle school that I started to learn how our government worked, or rather didn't work. When I was in 8th grade my English teacher assigned a lot of essays. For the media assignment I wrote about political bias on TV and radio, for the political essay I researched the Patriot Act. Once I started to learn about the after effects of 9-11, my eyes were opened and I couldn’t shut them again. The victims of 9-11 are not just the people who died on September 11^th. They are also the Muslims who are persecuted for their beliefs, the soldiers who fought in the Middle East and their families. During the elections I listened to the candidates and for the first time in my life I understood that the promises they made were not the same as the changes they made. The promise that America would be what it once was could never be kept.

When you wind the clock back 7 years from that election you arrive in pre 9-11 America. We as a nation believed that we were unsinkable, similar to the boastful builders of the Titanic. That September my family was stationed at the Naval base at Rota in southern Spain. I don’t remember the panic that surrounded that day, until I moved to this country in 2004 I don’t think I even knew about the event. I was disconnected from the grief that we as a nation felt. That kind of pain and shock is hard to endure without lashing out at someone. Anger needs an outlet and we found one. On October 26^th, 2001 President Bush signed the Patriot Act into law. The act was signed into law with the resounding approval of Congress, except for a few stray votes here and there. Recently the American public started a media frenzy because one of the numerous government agencies hiding in the shadows was reading their emails. What they didn’t realize is that ever since the Patriot Act was passed the government has had that power. They have the power to request any information regardless of the legality pre 9-11.  “We, the people…” and all that entails, was written over 200 years ago by a nation fighting for it’s right to exist. We’re still fighting, many of us are frightened of our fellow citizens for no other reason then they are different.

The idea that someone is dangerous or evil just because they’re different is something I’ve never understood. After 9-11, we started looking at Muslim Americans as traitors instead of people searching for hope. People from all around the world come here looking for second chances, for a new beginning. We are a nation of immigrants; and yet there are those in this country who believe that those who worship Allah or wear a turban or a headscarf as a sign of their faith want to destroy us. That’s just not true, they are here because they wanted the opportunities we take for granted. Instead of giving them that chance some Americans choose to persecute them. The common belief is that because radical believers of the Islamic faith attacked us that all Muslims hate this county. But we’re not perfect; the mistreatment of Islam and its believers proves this. Their country, our country was attacked, their religion as well. American Muslims grieved beside us, and because of the attacks on their faith they are still grieving. In 2010 there was media frenzy about the building of a Muslim community center and mosque in Manhattan. There were a lot of people who believed that the builders were trying to insult the memory of those who died on 9-11, in New York, Washington D.C. and on Flight 93. The Muslim community of Manhattan simply wanted a place to safely practice their religion. Freedom of religion, wasn’t that one of the principals that founded this country? We seem to have forgotten what this country used to mean; we’ve forgotten how to feel safe.

All my life I’ve been flying, I can’t remember ever being afraid, even suspended 40,000 feet in the air. I like to watch the earth fly by out the window, even the food that have progressively worse over the years. When I grew older and my family told me about 9-11, I wasn’t afraid. I trusted the pilot to keep me safe, to keep me flying. I have been flying alone since I was 11, visiting relatives in California and Illinois. When I go through airport security though, I am nervous. I worry that I will be detained or questioned even though I am obeying the rules. The first time I flew alone was in 2007; I went to California for spring break. I obsessed over what to pack, I still do. When I got through security, I took a deep breath. Even now, I take a moment to breathe. American airports have better security then a super max prison and I am still worried. Not about a hijacker, that is what the security is there for. The issue on my mind, I’m afraid of the very people there to protect me. When a nations people fear their protectors, you know something’s wrong.  Perhaps a therapist would tell me my fear is irrational and in my head I know I have nothing to be afraid of. When someone tell me my fear is irrational, no fear is rational there is always some basis in reality. The reality here, our government in an attempt to protect its citizens, is instead alienating them.

The lesson that I’m trying to share is that our country has changed; it will never be what it used to be. We regained a sense of power but not the security we used to enjoy. We were invulnerable, then we were shaken and for a moment we felt weak. It seems to me that’s what frightens us, feeling weak, appearing weak. 9-11 was a day, a horrible twisted day but a day nonetheless. One that should have been remembered, whose victims should have been honored but it wasn’t worth a war. The victim’s number in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even in the millions. It started with those who died on 9-11 but continued with the deaths of hundreds of millions. The civilians in the Middle East, our military members, the soldiers they fought beside, even those we fought against. The lesson I learned is that the consequences of 9-11 are more severe and complicated them we imagined. 12 years of war and what have we gained?