9/11: United but divided

Our memory of the attacks on September 11, 2001 is imbued with a pained sense of lost unity. Indeed, we enjoyed a kind of solidarity on that day, and for some time afterward, but not of a common political purpose or shared national identity. We were united by the trauma of a sudden and (at the moment) inexplicable catastrophe. For a day or more, our humanity preceded every other consideration - national, political, social, ethnic, and religious - as a testament to the integrity, not of the American, but of the human, fabric. We extended our hand and our sympathy to those affected by the tragedy, and thus extended it to all of our neighbors, because we were all affected; September 11 was our national tragedy.

It was not the first terrorist attack within our borders, not the first in New York City, and not the only time that we were awakened by radical shifts in history. But it was indeed the greatest, by the scale of its destruction and by virtue of its symbolic resonance. 9/11 decisively ended the 20th century and inaugurated a new era, along with a new and divisive political climate. In the wake of the attacks, institutions of national security were created and existing ones reinforced, constitutional rights throughout the Western world, and particularly in the US and Britain, were redefined and often systematically violated, and two wars in the Middle East were waged, thrusting all involved into an unenviable quagmire. 9/11 has also forced us to reconsider globalization - whom it benefits, whom it disenfranchises, and whom it imperils.

As families and friends of loved ones marked the ninth anniversary of that day, many insisted on the sanctity of observances, that 9/11 not be mingled with politics. But the proposed construction of an Islamic community center on property adjacent to the former World Trade Center reminds us that 9/11 has always been political, perhaps from the moment it was first broadcast on the media. As this historical event continues to be politicized, it will remain divisive, particularly on the question of restoration. Americans are united in their commitment to rebuild, not only buildings and infrastructure but the entire social order to accomodate a new age. They remain divided on how.