Never forget they say. As a Lebanese-Puerto Rican- American who was raised with two faiths; Islam and Catholicism, I can assure you, I will never forget. As a New Yorker who stood on the pier at 69th street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, watching the towers come crumbling down just across the river while the whole city suddenly turned into a huge dust and smoke cloud, I will never forget. Showing up late to school on the day of the attack, only to be greeted by FBI agents surrounding our high school, and being denied entrance, I will never forget. One thing I still can’t understand is why they chose my school. It’s probably because it was located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, which is home to a huge Arab, most who are Muslim, population. Being abruptly awoken from my sleep at 4am by the sonic boom of F16 fighter jets flying above my home, thinking we were once again under attack, while having my heart all but fall out of my chest, I will never forget. Being born to an Arab Muslim father, ME? Forget? How could I ever forget?! While many Americans suddenly adopted a new sense of patriotism after the September 11th attacks, I must admit, my sense of Arabism which was always there, suddenly grew stronger. This was not because I condoned the terrorist attacks which occurred that day; yes, we also consider the people who carried out these crimes to be terrorists. It was more because suddenly I was made to feel that I was not “American” enough. We all know how the saying goes, “Get in where you fit in”. So basically, that’s what I did.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 14:52:09 +0000
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