Interview of my Dad, Robert (age 60):
At the time of the attacks, my family lived in New Jersey, and my dad and myself were actually in the city on this day. We were at a dentist appointment that morning, and initially saw the news of the attacks on television news. My dad spoke of his memory of the facial expressions of the other people in the office as the shock of the tragedy reached the crowd. As I asked him more about what specifically he remembers, he spoke mainly of the facial expressions of others in the office, and the way he could feel the collective heart of the room drop. After the initial shock hit, he turned his focus to the fear that we were in danger. As time went on, more and more people could be seen outside in the streets as everyone began to be afraid, and rumored that inside was less safe than outside. He said that these events affected his world view in a huge way. Following this day, he spoke of how the media shared a major anti-muslim sentiment, and that it rubbed off on himself and the public. He was ashamed to say that for a while it made him afraid of those who looked like the attackers, and founded a patriotic dislike for the middle east. I asked whether he remembered media prior to this day, and how it changed afterwards, and he said the talk of terror and the coverage of tragedy skyrocketed. As the news companies saw the reaction from the public, my dad felt like the reporters started to focus on these topics to generate better engagement.
Following this interview, I began to think how this affected my own views, or the fact that I actually shared this experience. The major issue was that I was only two years old at the time, and although I was also in the city at the time of the attacks, I have absolutely no recollection of the events. I do not believe that this has changed my view of the event, as I grew up in a generation that was very informed of the events of 9/11. I had developed my own views aside from the bias of older generations, and I do not feel as though hearing another view has changed how I feel. It was pretty crazy to hear that I was there at the time of this event, I just wish that I was able to remember how I felt in the time, so I could have a more informed opinion.
Interview of my brother, Hudson (age 11):
This interview was very different from my previous interview with my father. Speaking to someone who was not yet alive when this occurred, he was not fortunate enough to develop his own opinion. I went into this interview with movie we viewed in class as an expectation, but my brother was surprisingly informed on the subject. A few years back, we brought him to the monument and 9/11 memorial museum. He spent hours asking questions, exploring the museum and reading everything he could get his hands on to better understand. He told me that they had been taught about this in class, but there was only so much an elementary schooler can really absorb about such a complicated subject. He knew the responsible organization, a few names of key individuals, and the gist of how the attacks went down. What he failed to understand however, were the feelings of the public following these attacks. He reminded me of a vacation we went on a few years back, where he was crying on an airplane, as he was afraid when men he said “looked like terrorists” walked by him on the way to their seats. While this is hard to explain to him, he reminded me that this feeling comes from only what he has seen online or read about. My family sat with him to explain that this was not an issue anymore and that he should not be afraid. His world view is only shaped by the things he has seen and read, as he was not part of the generation who grew up with this as a commonly spoken topic. It is completely different than my world view, understandably as I have been around ten additional years. I was very fascinated, however, with how this view could be changed through more discussion and education. I feel as though it should be more widely discussed rather than just one day a year when it is on the news.
After speaking with my brother, I began to think about the difference in generational knowledge of the attacks between my brother, myself and my parents. It was very fascinating to think about the experience as an adult from my dad, growing up through it for myself, and then hearing only in retrospect for my brother. None of the views or experiences we have are the same, yet we are all fed the same information year after year on September the 11th. My dad was an adult who remembers the attacks vividly in his adult life, experiencing the attacks first hand and gaining media exposure to enhance his opinions. He lived most of his life before this event, and has seen the follow up and aftermath of these attacks on the world today. My views were different in the sense that I was too young to experience this event. My experience was growing up in a generation where terror and increased security measures defined international travel, and I have never really known much difference. My younger brother only has experience from the time in which the effects of this tragedy are still relevant, but fading in the forefronts of the minds of the American public, and only gathers what he can read or be told on his own.
Interview of my high school science teacher Mr. Herlihy (age 38):
This interview was very unique, and was nothing similar to that of those with my family members. My teacher Mr. H was a sophomore in college in California at the time of these attacks. He remembers this occurring during his move in week, where everyone was busy settling in. He said that the dissemination of this information was very slow, as this was still before common media outlets were mobile. He said that once the news reached his campus, move in quickly stopped and all of the students convened to a public with radio and television. He said that this was an interesting age to be during the attacks, as these are the major years for young adults to be forming their own world view, as they are living on their own for some of the first times. He said that they all felt terror, being close to San Francisco and unsure of the nature of the attacks, if they could be next. As the panic set in, he remembered watching people running around frantically trying to access phones to call their parents or loved ones. His world view was permanently changed, as he says he was afraid to fly for years following the attacks. This event struck fear into he and his friends, and he remembers the news only making him more scared. After the attacks, terror was the main topic of media coverage, and there was a common anti-muslim bias present. He was in an interesting position, as he had only been alive 19 years prior to the attacks, and had not fully had time to develop his own world view before this. After the attacks, he says that he and all of the students around him couldn’t help but take this bias that was covered from New York City.
I would say that I could relate the most to this interview. Coming from another person who did not have a direct memory of the event, and more or less heard from media, both of our world views and opinions have been shaped by the experiences and biases of other people. While his world view had been more mature than mine at the time of the attacks, he and I both were largely shaken by this tragedy, and did not know enough of the world first to know how rare this would be. Alike my teacher, I would agree that my generation in general has a fear or implicit bias against Islam, and is something that only time can correct. With the given political climate and public turmoil in the Middle East during our lifetimes, it is very hard to change this sentiment. This was a unique perspective that I would like to further explore in future conversations.
As I was able to see in completing these interviews, the age and world view the interviewee had prior to knowledge of the 9/11 attacks went a long way towards their personal bias. These stories together are important towards building a collective memory. A memory that includes perspectives from all types of people with all types of knowledge. No two individuals will have the same world view, and that is the beauty of a collective memory. Where one person leaves off another is able to pick up. Knowledge my brother may not have had, I can share with him, and likewise with those older than myself. This exercise has changed or rather educated my memory more than I had previously. By getting to learn other perspectives, I was able to understand more of how the world is viewed by others, and how other people were affected by the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
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