|
MikeCrotch posted:For you Americans out there, how prevalent were opinions like this: The whole country went a little insane for a while there, it was kind of scary. Initially everyone was really just sort of shocked and confused - I feel like most Americans didn't really have any sense of vulnerability at the time, the idea that someone could come right in and bloody their nose like that was very reality-altering to some people. This is actually a pretty good reflection of it. After the shock cleared, it felt like your choices for an acceptable reaction were basically with white-hot rage, complete despair, or stoic resolution. The circles in which you could have any sort of nuanced discussion about what had happened or why were very small, and you had to be really careful where you made points like that first post. I also remember an overwhelming sense that someone was going to burn for what happened and the ominous waiting to see who it would be. Kind of like if your friend is a fighting drunk and you realize he's just topped his limit and you're waiting to see who he blows up on. This isn't to say that some people didn't say something or try, but people were really willing to lash out at anyone who wasn't in line. As Tendai mentioned, there was an immediate and very emotional outlash at anyone people felt could be associated with the event, which included tons of people - not just Muslims, but also Sikhs and people who someone could perceive as Arabic. Some of my Indian friends even had unpleasant encounters with people who were just angry and ignorant. On 9/11 I had only been in America for a few months - I had come here for university from Kenya. In 1998, Al Queda had bombed the US embassies in Nairobi and Dares Salaam. I was in high school at that time, and knew many people and families hurt and killed. Watching it unfold was a really weird throwback to that experience, although I was far away this time.
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2015 19:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 17, 2024 16:38 |
|
|
porfiria posted:The tenor of some of the comments is going to reflect the fact that a lot of posters here were, like, 12 when it happened. So take the "we were living in a time of peace and then it was a time of DARKNESS" with a grain of salt. I was an adult at the time and so were most of my peers, albeit barely (I was in university). Tons of adults in America were not paying enough attention to really know or understand what was happening with the Cole or the Embassy bombings. Even among those who were aware, many people did not really think that the same people who could drive a car bomb into a third-world embassy were going to orchestrate a simultaneous, multi-plane attack on NYC, The Pentagon, and the Capital. People went crazy not because they thought the world was a place of joy and love, but because they never really thought that all the horrible poo poo going down in the world would suddenly land in America's lap like that. Before 9/11 almost every hijacking was a hostage situation - people would hijack a plane, have it diverted to land in some place, and then hold the passengers hostage while making demands. The idea that someone would hijack a plane and use it as a weapon was totally alien. That was why the standard procedure was to sit tight and do nothing, and wait for it to get resolved.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2015 01:24
|
|