10 years ago, I was in 3rd grade. The first off thing I noticed was that "after-care" (you stay at the school and your parents pick you up later) had been cancelled. Someone must have taken me home that day, either my mother or a neighbor. To be honest, I don't remember seeing the buildings themselves, but I saw the people fleeing from a large cloud of dust in the streets. There was no way that I could grasp the true gravity of the situation at that time.
To make matters worse, my father was in New York City for business. He told me he "was right down the river" when he came back. Again, the initial worries my mom must've had...he came home a week or two later, and everything was alright.
Today, I know it was not, and still is not. We lost lives that day, and we remember them. We feel the pain of their loved ones and relatives. We honor the heroes who did everything they could. We remember.
But there was another victim that day: Muslim-Americans. Those who could trace their heritage to the Middle-East and practiced Islam. Much hatred and ignorance has spread since then. "I want to take all of your people and your religion, shove them in a room, and blow it up." This statement comes from a Muslim high-school teacher I had. It was made by another young adult at her college. She recalled the fear her mother had, urging her to remove her hijab and lie low. Since then, things have cooled, but the ignorance still remains.
Americans have remained strong, and now, 10 years later, we still remember.
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