How Should We Remember 9/11?
“You ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or still dreaming?”
Neo–The Matrix
It happened eight years ago today and just about every reporter and web scribbler had a sentimental anniversary piece ready to go to commemorate the day our whole world changed.
I’m not going to recount the details of what took place. I’m not going to remind you how evil exists in this world or even how heroism emerges in the face of that darkness. I’m not here to pay tribute to the American spirit, and I certainly won’t offer up hollow platitudes. I’m not going political either. I won’t reexamine the Bush legacy in this the first anniversary of 9/11 under a new Commander-In-Chief. I’m not going to attempt to get you angry or sad or sentimental, and I won’t even tell you to hold your kids a little tighter tonight.
I’m not going to tell you that we need to remember. In my world, as a historian who gets paid to remember for a living, that’s a given. I will ask how should we remember?
A Slate.Com article by Jack Shafer two days ago preempted the anniversary coverage we knew we’d all see and hear today. Shafer took a pessimistic slant against this sort of coverage. He’s correct that many of these pieces are put together lazily and quickly as easy ratings grabbers. His article is what it is, but the fundamental question in the end becomes how much reminding do we need?
I believe the answer to that question is a matter of perspective. Those who lost loved ones in the attacks live with the memory of what happened every day. Many people, including young adults now in college, have virtually no recollection of the day.
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Stripped down, history is a combination of memory and recollection. Sometimes our memories fail. Sometimes we don’t want to remember the truth. Sometimes we lie because, after all, the heart is deceitfully wicked. We’re real good at coming up with better versions of our lives for folks who don’t know any better. We tell different versions of the same event than others who were there. We manipulate the facts and do what we can to put ourselves in the best light. All this before we get to the part where our personal beliefs shade our vision and our political leanings tempt integrity.
I know these things about human nature as I watch months and years melt from calendars and the anniversary number of my lifetime’s defining event climb towards double digits. I know that the myth often trumps reality, yet how does that apply to what took place in 2001?
Images and sounds replayed over and over don’t lie. No one can deny an event so well documented. That’s why General Dwight Eisenhower ordered available troops to tour Hitler’s concentration camps. One day, he said, people will claim that this (the Holocaust) never happened. In his time, he understood human nature. He was right.
Just like the December attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Americans are in no hurry to forget what happened in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. See, we all look at the same event but with so many different interpretations. That’s why I say it’s a matter of perspective. One person says “that’s terrible,” another says “that’s crazy,” and still another says “my husband was in that building.” Some said we were doomed, others said we would prevail, and still more said America deserved it. Just a few days ago, someone on this blog posted a reply to an article written in May that maybe we deserve another similar attack!
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So what do we do with these memories? No matter who you are, you will become a history teacher just like me someday. Happens all the time really. In the not too distant future, someone younger than you will ask about 9/11. What happened? Why? What was it like? What does it mean? There’s power in that moment as you will influence someone’s worldview, someone’s future. For them, you will connect emotion and meaning to the images and words
of future anniversaries.
We can’t always trust our memory of yesterday or our perception of today. If that’s true, how will tomorrow make any sense? The answer is honesty. To simply remember or “never forget” is not enough. We must do so truthfully, facing the ugly and terrifying realities square on without ego or bias.
This day should not be about fluff or patronizing sentimentality, and it certainly isn’t about ratings. Today should be about truth. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet because of your unique perspective, only you know what 9/11 means to you. That gets to be your truth, and as a wise man once said, the truth will set you free.
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Life. Culture. Education.
Life as Pop Culture Professor Clay Morgan
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo he can take the blue pill and go on believing whatever he wants to believe. Or he can take the red pill to stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This is a red pill type site that provides information in an entertaining way. It’s about clear thinking and good writing. It’s about finding meaning amidst the absurd. It’s about humor and truth.
I’m a writer / speaker who teaches history and political courses at a couple of local colleges. Where is local, you say? Well, that would be Wonderland of course.
On topics ranging from pop culture to the meaning of life, my brain’s always poppin’. Take the red pill and unplug.
September 11th no longer just a day. As more time passes I can’t help but think what will be the new date to take the news by storm. I remember this time especially well. I got married four days after 9/11, and the celebration was probably better because of it. Sounds harsh but let me explain. We had invited 200 people and even thou flights were still grounded we only had 4 people not show up. In addition, our guests had a certain vibrance about them. It was like they were longing to get away from the tragic news they had been engulfed in for four days. They enjoyed the company of friends and family like they had never done before. They stepped away from reality for an evening and put pity things aside. If only those feelings could last.
I remember this time by being thankful for those you serve without heroism. Those who answer the call and stand ready to sacrifice all to protect the freedoms we all enjoy and take for granted each day. I am a lucky one; my memories are of a country that came together and picked itself up off the ground.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree 100%. Unity is powerful and solidifies those memories. Add a wedding on top and that must have been a powerful week.
I remember Columbine, I remember OJ Simpson (though my eight year old self didn’t grasp why everyone cared…Oh wait, I still don’t), I have a few bits from the first Gulf War, but September 11th is my first experience with the where were you when question. And in fifty years, I’ll still remember. That’s what we’re supposed to do, remember, tell the people who weren’t there.
“One person says “that’s terrible,” another says “that’s crazy,” and still another says “my husband was in that building.””
That’s a hell of a way to sum it up. Such a degree in distance from these things.
Thanks for the insight Lucy. We all have those first memories seared into our minds. I can’t think of a bigger first than 9/11. The sum up is all about perspective.
i love the pic with the hand containing thw words “seek truth”. and to answer the question how should we remember, well, we can only remember what we were told by the media, right? maybe not. there is footage all over the web that was not shown in u.s. or was only shown once, research and make your own decision. i highly reccomend everyone look into a game of playing cards created by a man by the name of steve jackson in 1990, if you are not familiar, i encourage you to get familiar and quick. even ever so popular “the simpsons” has 911 references(predictions) dating back to 1997(episode city of new york vs homer simpson). remember that conspiracy therories are not always true, but i am sure that some are. its your choice, but i encourage everyone to at least entertain the thought
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