Judson L. Jeffries is a regular contributor to The Columbus Dispatch.
The United States suffered the deadliest terrorist attack by a foreign actor on American soil since Pearl Harbor on this date 25 years ago.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, and more than 1,000 others suffered minor to severe injuries.
Some intellectuals scoff at any comparison between the horrors of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.
They maintain, rightly so, that what occurred in Hawaii 85 years ago was an act of war, but that the horrific events of September 11, 2001, were nothing more than unprovoked, cowardly terrorist attacks carried out by extremists from the Arab world. Some contend that the masterminds behind Sept. 11 had initially hoped to remain anonymous
until they realized it was futile to try and do so.
There is a common thread.
The abundance of unity
In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, I witnessed a level of unity, allegiance, camaraderie, brotherhood and sisterhood among the American people that I had never experienced.
In conversations with older Americans, black and otherwise, the sentiment was the same, except among those old enough to remember Pearl Harbor.
There was arguably no facet or area of American life where this unity was not apparent and in abundance. Sports and entertainment, politics, academia, art, and journalism were all impacted.
That unity and camaraderie, which was glaringly obvious among the American people following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has dissipated over the years to the point where the country is almost unrecognizable.
The country is arguably more polarized 25 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, than it was unified 25 years earlier.
Who’s to blame for this?
Our greatest threat
Of course, there is plenty of blame to go around, starting with the country’s leadership on both sides of the aisle.
Some politicians have, for political purposes, fanned the flames of discord rather than serving as a bridge and coalition builder for the purpose of improving the lives of the American people.
Few words better characterize the working relationship, if it can be called that, between the Democrats and the Republicans than cantankerous.
Then there are the many Americans who seem to have taken their cues from some of the ill-mannered and ill-tempered men and women they elected to represent them.
In other words, many of us have failed miserably at learning how to disagree without being disagreeable.
Until we learn to listen to one another and resolve our differences peacefully and without rancor the greatest threat to the American way of life will come not from any foreign threat or enemy, but from within our own ranks.
To think that it takes a terrorist attack or an act of war on American soil to give rise to the kind of unity witnessed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and Pearl Harbor says something about the national character of this country.
Judson L. Jeffries is a professor of African American and African studies at Ohio State University and a regular contributor to The Columbus Dispatch.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 9/11 brought us together. Now we are tearing ourselves apart | Opinion
