We should teach our students about the tragedy of 9-11 and the unity that followed | Opinion

I was in my second year of teaching English as a Second Language at Roosevelt High School on Sept. 11, 2001.

As the day started in my Fresno, Calif. classroom we were tangentially aware of news reports that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

I had a room full of students when we learned it was not an accident.

Language barriers aside, my students had a profound love for America. As the children of immigrants who had chosen to make a new life here, they felt a deep appreciation for the promise of freedom the United States represents around the world.

Thanks to the old “Channel One” initiative, every classroom had a television. Students and staff sat in horror and fear and grieved deeply for our country as we watched heroes run toward the tragedy and dazed survivors stumble away from ground zero.

It was a purely human connection — we could not tell the race, ethnicity, religion, native language, or socio-economic status of the people covered in gray debris. Strangers leaned on one another for support as they walked out of the city — the only hierarchy was helping those who needed the most assistance.

It did not matter that day how many generations our families had been in America, whether we were the descendants of those who came here by choice or force, or whether our ancestors had been enslaved, indentured, Indigenous, or free. The emotions we shared were genuine care and concern for our fellow Americans — an almost visceral realization that we are all in this together.

Some of the most vivid memories I have of Sept. 11, 2001, are of our nation coming together in the hours, days, and weeks following the attacks.

Of first responders in New York City, Washington DC, and rural Pennsylvania rushing toward danger without concern for their own safety that morning.

Of blood centers across the country with lines of people out the door seeking to give blood that afternoon.

Of members of Congress from both parties spontaneously singing “God Bless America” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol that evening.

Of our nation resembling a Fourth of July parade for weeks as we flew American flags from our homes and cars, while sidewalk vendors offered red, white, and blue memorabilia on every corner.

According to the Pew Research Center, “patriotic sentiment surged in the aftermath of 9/11,” and in October 2001, eight out of 10 adults reported displaying an American flag since the tragedy. Trust in the federal government was at an all-time high, and people said they were praying more often.

Twenty-two years later, I have the honor of being the superintendent of the second largest school district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. None of the more than 42,000 students we serve were alive when the Twin Towers fell.

Platitudes of “never forget” fall short as we seek to make meaning from the horrific deeds that day.

As we consider the lessons we want our children to learn from the deadliest terror attack on American soil, may I suggest we endeavor to not only remember the tragedy of Sept. 11, but also rekindle the unity thereafter.

That day proved our differences pale in comparison to what we have in common as Americans. We saw the destructive power of hate and refused to let it win. We put divisions aside and answered the call to a higher purpose.

More than two decades later, our nation bears the scars of wars in the Middle East, acts of domestic terrorism, cultural clashes, racial reckonings, a global pandemic, and vehement political discord.

Despite those more recent events, on this somber anniversary, I am reminded of the powerful image from the front page of a French newspaper declaring “We Are All Americans.”

Let us not wait for another tragedy to act like it.

Dr. Demetrus Liggins is superintendent of the Fayette County Public Schools.