By Kyle Jackson
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
For those who were alive during that time, that day is seared into their memories. Everything from where they were when the planes crashed, the collapse of the towers, first responders rushing to the scene, and the subsequent silence that fell over everyone for weeks after.
But for those born after or too young to remember fully, 9/11 was something they learned about in history books and from their parents. Teachers sharing stories about what they experienced in a history class is very different from watching it live.
This gap of time poses an interesting question: How do different generations see 9/11? And, more importantly, why do they see it that way?
Associate Professor and TLDE Faculty Professional Development Liaison Rachel Lutwick-Deaner shared her experience during the attacks 25 years ago.
“So on September 11th, 2001, I was actually living in Durham, North Carolina. And similar to now, I didn’t teach every day,” Deaner said. “There were days when I would teach at my university. I taught at Carolina State University.”
For Deaner, it was a beautiful day. As she put it, “In North Carolina, they like to say, you know how God is a Tar Heel fan? Because the sky is Carolina blue,” commenting that the day was too nice for what was to come.
“And it was a Tuesday, and I was home, and this was back when people still watched network TV in the morning,” Deaner said. “So whatever I had on was interrupted by the news, and you sit and you watch planes flying into the World Trade Center.”
Deaner was raised in Long Island, New York. While she herself didn’t work or live near where the attacks happened, she still was connected to the Twin Towers in her own way as a New Yorker.
“And it’s unbelievable also because I’d been to (the) World Trade Center when I was in third grade. (A childhood friend’s) dad worked at the World Trade Center, and we went on a field trip to see it.” Deaner explained. “So it wasn’t just something that, for me, as a New Yorker, was on my skyline that I would see it when we were crossing the bridge to come into the city from Long Island. But I’d been in there.”
Even though Deaner was in a completely different state, members of her family still worked and lived in New York.
“My family worked in New York City on that day. My mother was working in New York City in Southern Manhattan, not close enough to, like, have been affected by the fall of the Twin Towers, but she was down there,” Deaner said.
In addition to her mother, Deaner’s brothers-in-law and cousin were also in the city when the towers fell.
“You saw people running for their lives. And I’m wondering where are my family?” Deaner said.
For her, 9/11 was more than just an event; it was her home and family being struck in more ways than one. In Deaner’s eyes, New York was the center of her world.
Juan Hernandez, 18, on the other hand, expressed that the attacks never really impacted him in his life.
“I mean, it was a terrible thing, you know,” Hernandez said. “I mean, I guess it really didn’t affect my life fully. Obviously, we learned about it in school and everything and all that, but I wasn’t alive during it, so it wouldn’t affect me as much as it would in the past generations, like my parents. They were in school when it happened. But obviously, it’s still a terrible thing, you know?”
Hernandez continued to explain how, while he wasn’t directly impacted, he still feels that 9/11 is an extremely important event that should be taught about. However, 9/11 was only ever talked about during Hernandez’s experience in high school as a passing topic or when 9/11 came around.
“…It would be like, Memorial Day almost, you know?” Hernandez said.
After the attacks, Deaner described how America went into a state of mourning. For the first time, America’s soil was breached, leading to an age where people became fearful of the unknown.
“And after that, I didn’t trust being on the island of Manhattan the same way that I had. Like, I didn’t feel as carefree. I would feel relieved when I was in a tunnel or a bridge leaning to go back to Long Island or upstate after that, because I realized how vulnerable New York was as a place, as like this hub for commerce,” Deaner explained.
Deaner described how 9/11 has changed everything around both herself and others over the years, with increased security, racial distrust, and an entire war sprouting from the attacks.
“We didn’t have (the) Department of Homeland Security before 9/11. So airport security changed dramatically. Like it was, I think, post 9/11, but not that far afterwards when everybody had to start taking their shoes off,” Deaner said, noting how travelers are now required to remove their shoes to go through security screenings before boarding planes.
Before 9/11, Deaner managed to take what she described as a paper cutter for bread on a flight from Paris back to the U.S., slightly laughing to herself about its absurdity before mentioning that she would now be placed under arrest should she do that again.
However, she described how security as a whole was increased as a result of 9/11.
“You know, because we started to feel, and whether rightly or wrongly, that it was acceptable to lose some of our privacy for the sake of our national security,” Deaner explained. “And, yeah, it’s sad. It’s sad that there’s less of us… that can’t be surveilled now. I think that it is problematic, but at the same time, we accepted it because of this terrible thing that happened.”
Contrary to Deaner’s view on security, Jalil Cohran, 18, and Emilio Jimenez, 19, both expressed that the increased security is just the way the world is for them.
“I would say that I like, maybe not in college, actually even in college, but there’s a lot more security and a lot more things you have to get through because of that, and they want to make sure (that it) doesn’t happen again. It’s like, (it was) trying to protect the country,” Jimenez said.
“I do feel way more safe because I had a teacher to talk about how there wasn’t really too much security at the airports, and things like that, until 9/11 happened,” Cohran added. “So I feel like that in and of itself kind of helped the future generations become more safe.”
Recently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released files regarding the air quality during and after 9/11. The documents were previously buried, sparking controversy around the event in modern times. The files detail that New Yorkers were led to believe that the air quality around Ground Zero was safe, despite samples taken up to half a mile away containing asbestos.
This led to exposed citizens getting sick and dying later in time.
Other aspects of 9/11 have also been reignited with the anniversary. Problems regarding race after 9/11 never fully dissipated, with various people pointing the blame for 9/11 toward politicians from different cultural backgrounds.
Deaner highlighted the issue immediately after 9/11.
“There’s a tremendous fallout for the Muslim community in the United States,” Deaner said. “Innocent people who, you know, got killed, shot at gas stations, whatever, just for being Muslim, or even Sikh, appearing that they weren’t, you know, white bread Americans.”
The Collegiate also reported on 9/11 in its October 2001 print publication, highlighting the same issues.
“Terrorist Attacks Affect Muslims at College” was one of the headlines.
“‘I don’t agree with the acts,’ said Omar Wail, a GRCC student originally from Jordon; he is Arabic and Muslim,” a segment reads. “Some people seem to think that the whole religion and the whole race are responsible.”
For the older generations, 9/11 was a time of confusion and consequences, with increased security that has trickled into the modern age and fears of foreign influence and attacks.
Yet for the younger generation, 9/11 is an event in history that they never lived through. This doesn’t mean that people born after 9/11 don’t care about the event, but rather that it’s a historic tragedy to be taught.
However you remember 9/11, whether it was watching the news as the towers fell or watching a recording of it, it remains one of the most influential moments in American history.
Collegiate reporter Kora Locke contributed to this story.
