Today mark 25 years since the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Between the attacks themselves, the lasting health impacts on survivors and ensuing wars, the death toll for Americans is in the tens of thousands.
At ceremonies Monday morning across the country, the anniversary was marked with wreath-laying, flag-flying, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims’ names. At the ground zero ceremony in New York City, relatives read the long list of names who were lost that day. For Angilic Casalduc, attending the New York ceremony “helps to show you’re not alone.” Her mother, Vivian Casalduc, was killed in the attack.
“There’s no timeline for grief, and unfortunately, no one can say how can you can grieve, but coming here once a year makes it feel just a little bit better,” she said. The aftermath: Now, one generation later, the country and the rest of the world are still reckoning with the aftermath. Amid the mourning, Americans have grappled with societal changes over the past quarter of a century. From conflict abroad to civil liberties at home, the shocks of the 9/11 attacks still linger today. According to Tom Mockaitis, a history professor at DePaul University, the aftermath of 9/11 kicked off the deepening of social and political divisions in the country.
“It really began the process of this deep divide over who exactly is an American,” Mockaitis said. “Soon after 9/11, there was a brief period of unity, and then it was looking for scapegoats.” Ibrahim Abusharif, now a professor of journalism and Middle East studies at Northwestern University, had two thoughts when he first heard of the attacks 25 years ago.
“No. 1, it was a horrific attack, and we feel sad about that,” Abusharif said. “But for Muslim Americans, especially Arab Muslim Americans, there was another concern — we’re going to get the backlash. So we didn’t even have a chance to mourn.” The attacks have had lasting effects on how terrorism is viewed in the U.S., impacted a generation of foreign policy decisions and resulted in the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the passage of the Patriot Act and the expansion of executive power over war.
