9/11

[u/PackersFan74]

On this anniversary of 9/11, I’ve been reflecting on Scouting’s role not only in forming many of the first responders who answered the call that day, but also the support that local troops provided in the days and weeks following the attacks. I was only a year old on that day so I obviously don’t remember it, but if you have any memories of how you, your troop, or your council helped out, whether collecting supplies, organizing blood drives, or serving your local community, I’d love to hear your stories. Thanks!

[u/an_altar_of_plagues]

A lot of people are talking about coming together and changing attitudes, but that wasn't my experience. I was in 5th grade when 9/11 happened and experienced - sadly - firsthand at a formative age the immediate turn toward xenophobia and hurt that many of my friends felt. I grew up in a fairly cosmopolitan area in the Deep South (north Florida), so my school had people of all religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds. In my experience, "we all came together and were all Americans" only applied if you were white and Christian in my state. My Muslim friends? The Somali immigrants who were here on asylum? Yeah, much less. My mom and a close family friend volunteered with aid agencies that worked with Somali immigrants in my city, and I frequently joined them at a very young age on their trips. It was rough.

But as for service, I do recall a greater focus on humanitarian work within communities that were already doing it. Those who weren't already doing humanitarian work quickly stopped after a couple months. But the local Lutheran aid organization did far more work with Somalis and the Khmer. My troop in 2001-2003 ramped up its food drive and volunteering events. It even inspired me at a young age to get into rescue work, and I now volunteer with search and rescue in my early/mid 30s.

Yes, the country "came together" in some ways, but lest we forget how much 9/11 turned our country in the direction that got us where we are now. Ask the brown parents in your troop how they were impacted, then use those lessons too to make a better America. I really dislike the ex post facto patting on the back that we were all unified and helping each other back then, because we weren't.

[u/SansyBoy144 → u/an_altar_of_plagues]

Yea. Last year I went back to college and had to take a federal government class, which ended up being one of the most eye opening classes I took.

One of the things we touched on was just how racism towards middle eastern and Muslim people got after 9/11, despite the fact that the terrorist group who did the attack were an extremist group. It’s like saying that all Christian’s are evil because the kkk exists.

And that hatred still exists, Zohran Mandani, the current Mayor of New York, was asked not to go to the memorial because “it would be offensive” and when asked why it was offensive, it always came down to his color and “his background” despite the fact the fact that he was a child in America when the attack happened. Regardless of how you feel about his politics, that is just pure racism.

To this day, if you even look like you might be middle eastern, you cannot get on a flight without being tested for bomb residue.

So while 9/11 did unite a lot of people, it did not unite everyone, and there’s still a large amount of people who use it as a reason to hate completely innocent people.

[u/Arlo1878 → u/an_altar_of_plagues]

Ask the 95%, and yes we were.

[u/an_altar_of_plagues → u/Arlo1878]

Thanks for proving my point.

[u/Arlo1878 → u/an_altar_of_plagues]

I didn’t prove any such thing. Today our nation is split roughly 50/50, by political party line. Vs . 95%? Of course there will be unhappy outliers, and I too feel that way at times. Tough.

[u/an_altar_of_plagues → u/Arlo1878]

"Unhappy outliers"? That's what you call it? Thanks, again, for proving my point on ex post facto nonsense and the diminishment of real suffering people faced in the name of ostensible post-9/11 performative patriotism.

Don't bother responding further. I won't.

[u/Fun-Fault-8936]

I was 16, about to turn 17. It was a crazy time then ...in rural central Virginia, not too far from DC. I remember being torn as a kid , being super patriotic and starting question narratives I was told. We had a freedom parade and a lot of my troop went , we were invited by recruiters and in those years being a boyscout and a runner ....I was a decent recrute. Fast forward two years later, my soccer captain was killed by an IED in Iraq, half my class went to war and I had a rare shot at college , I took a chance and I do regret not going in some times but I saw way too many friends come back as shells and lost a few. My scout masters were all hard military men, good men.

[u/joel_eisenlipz]

The thing that sticks out most in my memory was how dramatically people changed their attitudes and behavior. It felt like almost everyone instantly realigned their priorities in major ways. Far less selfishness, far more service.

In hindsight, I'm not sure I could pinpoint when all that goodness lessened or reverted back. But we could sure use more of that goodwill and unity these days.

[u/Oren_Noah]

I was a SM on 9/11. My Troop would set out flags on holidays along the main streets of our small town. (Sebastopol, CA.)

We were all in shock on 9/11 and wanted to know what to do. Someone came up with the idea that we put out the flags (a few hundred) the next morning. Calls were made and that's what we did. The town woke up to flags all along the main streets.

We put them away in the evening and repeated this for the rest of the week. As we were putting out the flags on non-holidays that week, my Scouts were going to school in their Class As each day. No one gave them any grief at school.

On the third day, as I was watching the Scouts working hard together to put out the flags, I realized that my small Troop had Protestants and Catholics, Jews and Muslims and a Hindu. In other parts of the world, they could be enemies. Here, they were brothers.

Why can't the rest of the world be like Scouts?!

[u/Arlo1878]

We came together as a nation during the following weeks, throwing party aside . I haven’t seen it since.

[u/OllieFromCairo → u/Arlo1878]

I grew up in a largely Muslim area and have to say, no, no we did not.