9/11+9

If you were alive during Pearl Harbor, you experienced a nation, shaken to core, and ready to unite against the Imperial forces of Japan. 2,400 soldiers and civilians died, making it the worst attack on U.S. soil. The attack that pushed the U.S. into World War II also created an era of unity that saw families cut back on consumption, women working in munitions factories and assembly lines and a general feeling that a strong home-front would help our boys overseas. For historians, the 20th century became divided between the pre and post-war eras. World War II led to the Cold War, which spawned many proxy wars that make the U.S. the policing force it is today. But, it also led to paranoia and suspicion that caused the internment of over 100,000 Japanese-American citizens.

The attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 had the same effect on the era. For those who experienced the attack, and the subsequent expansion of Intelligence and Domestic/International security know the 21st century as the pre and post-9/11 world. I can vaguely remember airport security before 9/11, and I do remember a government devoid of any office called "Homeland Security." 9/11 not only exposed to the United States to the effects of interventionism against the Soviets in Afghanistan, but also re-introduced the idea of Radical Islam and Terrorism into our lexicon. Those who even considered cutting defense budgets were accused of being either soft on terrorism or not supporting our troops overseas. It was a post-Cold War era governed by poorly disguised Cold War policy.

9/11 put the U.S. into a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has turned out to be the longest in U.S. history (9 years and counting). 9/11 created the "War on Terrorism" which spawned the proxy Iraq war. While we have effectively pulled out all combat troops from Iraq, we still have a lot of nation (re)building to do. The eight years of the Bush Administration were defined by his response to 9/11. His policies tarnished America's image in most of the international world. Constitutional questions in regards to everything from warrant-less arrests to wiretapping to prisoners of war were reopened and quickly co-opted by politicians. Most importantly, 9/11 created a world of suspicion, paranoia and fear that was manipulated to spread religious intolerance and indifference to violations of civil rights.

My question, as a historian (BA, UCLA, 2009) , is how we will frame the post-9/11 world to those who were or will be born after 9/11/2001. Moralists and revisionist historians might talk about the post-Pearl Harbor era as a dark time in U.S. history where bigotry disguised as "national security" led to the internment of Japanese-American citizens. That may be true. But, being someone who was born 46 years after Pearl Harbor, I see the event in its context: a country reacting to an attack on its soil and preparing to fight a war. While the unfortunate internment did occur, we must teach Pearl Harbor in its context without using our contemporary moral filter. What was the cause of the Japanese attack? What was the U.S. response? What were the events that led the Roosevelt Administration to intern so many civilians? These types of questions will help teach the historical legacy of Pearl Harbor without injecting our own biases.

Like Pearl Harbor, the post-9/11 world was a product of a county reacting to an attack on its soil and preparing to fight a war. Like Pearl Harbor, it also produced bigotry towards a U.S. minority, Muslims. But, how will we teach this era of transition in the future? The same way we teach Pearl Harbor and the WWII era. We should instruct on the causes of the attacks, the response to the attack and the political, social and cultural environment that was created by the attack. Teachers should talk about how the United States changed in the face of adversity, and how everyone from the President of the United States to a minister in Florida reacted to the attack and the environment it created.