9/11: 10 Years Later

It has been ten years since the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001 which stunned the nation on that horrific Tuesday morning. None of us that bared witness to the terrifying ordeal can forget what we saw on television. The despair, sadness, and devastation done unto humanity in a short amount of time, caused by a group with such hatred.

On September 11, we pay our respects to those that died in the two World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and in a rural field in Shanksville, PA. We did not know these people then but now we do. They were someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, husband and wife. We also in that day gave thanks to the heroes that gave their lives to save the lives of others in the burning buildings.

But this writer would also like to pay respects to those who in the days following the attacks of 9/11 lost their lives as well at the hands of those who committed hate crimes thinking that it was a righteous choice to avenge those who died in the previous days. Following the attacks of 9/11, many news stories reported innocent people from other Middle Eastern and sub Asian countries living in the United States whom were attacked because of their resemblance to the 19 terrorists that attacked our eastern shores on September 11, 2001.

The tragedy to this is that those who died at the hands of hate crimes during that time, were not involved in the 9/11 plot, nor were they from the same origin as the terrorists. These were people who were innocent of any wrong doing whatsoever. Those who committed those hate crimes became what they were fighting against on 9/11 – they became terrorists themselves. What we can do is honor them as well in our thoughts and in our prayers too; because the attacks did not end on 9/11, they lasted for quite some time with hate crimes all around the country causing anger and fear towards one another. So I would also give my respects to those who were innocent victims, those who suffered from hate crimes after the horrific events of September 11, 2001.

—Hector Serrato | E-mail